She had arrived at the tree fort only to find out that Rei and Tai had kicked him out. Tai hadn't known that Momo was supposed to meet Ryu there, but Rei…
"Stupid man-cat," she growled. "All it takes for him to forget everything is the sight of a pus-" She slapped her hand over her mouth at the unintended near double-meaning. "Never mind that," she scolded herself.
She started to think about how best to find Ryu, and how to…talk to him when she did. "What am I supposed to say? 'You love me, don't you?'" She nearly snorted trying to contain her laughter.
She was so engrossed in her train of thought that she didn't notice the man standing in the road until she ran into him. Literally.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed to the young man, who had suddenly found himself seated in the road. "I guess I wasn't watching where I was going, and…" She trailed off as she recognized the man's attire as that of a bandit. By the color scheme, she knew that there would be more of them nearby. She suddenly wished that she had let Ryu stay with her at McNeil.
"S'okay, ma'am," replied the bandit, just getting to his feet. "Just give us all your dough and we'll call it even."
"I-I'm sorry, I don't have any money." She swallowed hard. "I don't have any use for it."
The young miscreant considered her with an appraising look. He nodded and gestured towards her. "Okay, tell you what. You give me and the guys some of what's under there, and we'll call it even, eh?"
"Under…?" Momo looked down as she tried to figure out what he was referring to. Then she paled. "You can't be serious!"
The man simply grinned at her as four other men appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed for her arms and legs.
"NO!" Momo cried as one man took hold of an arm. "Leave me a-LONE!" She took hold of one attacker's wrist with her free hand and hammer-threw him into the other arm-grabber.
"Damn, guys! This one's feisty!" The bandit leader whooped as more bandits appeared, taking hold of hands, wrists, ankles…
"Ah ah ah!" he scolded as a hand reached for one of Momo's breasts. "I called dibs, remember?" The hand promptly retreated.
Terror shone in Momo's eyes and she struggled against too many hands as the leader slowly made his way toward her, working the buckle of his pants…
The tower nearly loomed over the young man as he crouched over the pile of wood.
"Nuts," Ryu muttered as he attempted the age-old method of rubbing sticks together. For the sixth time. The evening's catch flopped a short distance away, trying to escape its fate. "Rei taught me, and he has no problem doing it, so why…?" He finally sat back and glared at the fire, as though he could ignite it by irritation alone.
He started to consider changing to his fire dragon form when…he blinked, a feeling suddenly making its presence known. Faint at first, but eventually grew into recognizable…fear.
Ryu instinctively knew the cause. "Momo!" He ran three steps and leaped into the air, changing into his Sky Dragon form at the apex. I'm coming!
He flew at top speed in the direction of Wyndia.
"Damn, this girl's got fight!" the leader, Duran, yelled as another of his men sailed overhead. "Now I really want some of her!"
The eight men had managed to get the young woman's top off, leaving her with the most basic undergarment to protect her modesty. "I'm takin' that off," the head scumbag had said.
It turned out, however, that their intended victim had stronger legs than they expected. Even with her ankles held, she would still manage to kick anyone who went after her pants. Missing teeth were quickly becoming the special of the day.
Ryu had to land. He could only see so much from the sky, and he was afraid that he would overshoot her if he remained in flight.
He touched down near a cluster of trees, hoping to conceal his descent. He assumed success when no one jumped out to attack him. The feeling of fear strengthened the closer he came to the nearby road.
He inched his way around a border tree, hoping for a peek at what was happening to scare his friend so badly. He also didn't want to charge in without knowing what he would be up against.
Peering around the corner, his plans for subtlety and stealth went to hell as he saw several men pinning down a half-dressed young woman. A glimpse of red hair was all it took…
"MOMO!"
"Where the hell is Triad?" Duran growled. "I sent him for rope ten minutes ago!"
"I tell ya boss, it was five!" a struggling underling answered. "It just - OW, dammit! - seems like ten."
"Damn! It's about time!" Duran shouted at Triad's approaching form. "What the hell…took…you…" he trailed off as he realized that his henchman was somehow…floating.
Triad suddenly flew sideways to reveal a young man with blue hair and mostly white traveling clothes.
Duran was somewhat nonplussed. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
The blue-haired man ignored the question and pointed at Duran's captive. "I'm taking her with me."
Momo recognized the voice through the grunts of the men around her. "Ryu!"
Duran looked over his shoulder at the pile of bodies while pointing at the young man. "Guys, this is Ryu," he said with a smirk. "Kill him!"
Several of the bodies detached from the pile to throw themselves at the newcomer, swords and daggers drawn. Duran moved over to his remaining men. "Kill him, I'll take care of her." As soon as his men let go, Duran picked Momo up and spun around behind her, wrapping his arm around her neck. "This oughta shut you up," he growled as she gasped for air.
Ryu drew his sword as the men approached, thankful that he had enough foresight to bring it with him. The first brigand came in with a downward swing, which Ryu easily sidestepped. He planted a boot in the brigand's backside as said brigand passed him, sending him tumbling to the ground.
This enraged the others, and they came in swinging and thrusting and jabbing. Ryu became a whirlwind of parries, knocking blades and bodies away. Keeping true to his desire not to kill, he moved to disarm and to render unconscious.
That almost proved his undoing, however. Sidestepping a sword jab, he knocked the offending blade out of its owner's hand. Suddenly a shooting pain exploded from the left side of his ribs, causing him to drop his sword. He reflexively smashed his elbow into the offender's face, but the damage had been done. Knocking the last attacker away, he reached down with a shaky hand to pull the dagger from between his ribs. He dropped to his knees as he dumbly examined the blade, his foggy brain trying to figure out how much damage the blade had done to him. He could faintly hear a strangled scream from some direction, causing him to look up in some demented twist of slow-motion.
He saw one of the bad men holding Momo, an arm around her neck and a hand firmly pressed against one of her breasts.
And, as they say, all hell broke loose.
Momo had nearly been shocked senseless when the bandit leader put his hand where it didn't belong, but thanks to his arm across her throat she was quickly becoming too weak to do anything about it.
That didn't stop her from screaming once when she saw Ryu take the knife between his ribs, and again when she saw him fall to his knees.
"See that, bitch?" Duran taunted. "That's what happens when you…" He trailed off as he noticed a glow emanating from Ryu's body. "What the hell's going on?" he yelled at his men. "Whatever he's doing, STOP HIM!"
His order came too late as the glow completely engulfed Ryu, blinding everyone in the process. When the glow faded, Ryu came into view, back on his feet and…different. "What the…"
Ryu looked almost the same as before only his blues had been replaced by orange and some form of energy crackled across his frame, his clothes. He glared directly at the bandit leader and his hostage.
Unfortunately for his men, Duran was too far away to notice the full effect. When one of his men looked at him as if to ask for orders he shouted, "What're you looking at me for, dipshit? Finish him!"
Momo finally loosened his arm enough to croak, "No! He'll kill them if they attack!"
Duran wrenched his arm, closing off her windpipe. "I said shut up! At least he won't touch me as long as I have you!" Momo set again to gagging as Duran's men retrieved their weapons and advanced on the unarmed man.
The first bandit to attack nearly paid the ultimate price. He ran up to the unmoving young man and brought his knife up to stab downward, only to find himself suddenly lifted by the throat by an unseen force. After raising several feet, he suddenly flew into a nearby thorn bush.
Ryu began to advance on Duran and Momo as the next two attacked. They also ended up in the thorn bush. Another was thrown into a tree, rendered unconscious by the impact. Another ended up in the branches of a very tall tree. The last few were simply knocked out by a sudden burst of energy from the young man, dropping where they stood.
Ryu stopped a few paces away from Duran and his prisoner, and glared at him with more hate than possible.
Duran tried to remain unfazed, but failed. He quickly moved his hand from Momo's breast to his belt, then back to hold a knife. "Bad ass, huh? You move and I'll cut her wide open. I'll do it, you son of a bitch!"
Ryu's angry glare intensified, if that were possible. Let her go!
"Holy shit!" Duran yelped at the sound of the voice in his head. He quickly regained his composure. "Nice try, but your ventriloquism shit won't work! Now step off, or I start cuttin'!" He moved the blade closer to Momo's chest.
During the exchange, Duran's grip had loosened enough for Momo to get her wits back. In her attempt to suck in air, she caught a glimpse of her friend's eyes and realized…"Duran, wait! He forgot his Failure Gene! He'll kill y-"
"What'd I tell you, bitch? Shut the hell u-UUCK!" he gagged as Ryu seemed to teleport up to him, snatch the blade from his hand, then lift him in the air by his throat. He struggled and managed to kick Ryu in the face, which only served to make the young man angrier and tighten his grip.
Ryu glared up at Duran's watering eyes. Does it feel good?
"G-GAAACK!"
Feeling the life being wrenched from you?
"HUUUCHK!" Duran's so-called life began flashing before his eyes.
Momo, who had tumbled to the ground during Ryu's initial assault, looked up in time to see Duran's face begin to turn purple. "Ryu, don't! You're killing him!"
Ryu couldn't hear her. Even if he could, his current state would have caused him to ignore her.
Momo scrambled to her feet and ran to the Kaiser Dragon and his prey. Without thinking she grabbed the arm not supporting Duran and tugged at it. "Ryu, stop! Please!"
That seemed to reach him. His look of open hatred started to fade as he dropped the choking bandit, the movement also causing Momo to tumble to the ground.
Duran looked up at Ryu as he gasped for air. He quickly obliged when the voice in his head told him to Get out of here.
As Duran disappeared around the bend, Ryu turned his attention to his friend. Momo…
"I'm okay." Momo shakily rose to her feet and started to look around for her top when she felt a burning sensation. She looked over at Ryu to see him gazing at her intently. "Ryu, what's wrong…oh, no…"
Ryu began to advance on her this time, his expression not filled with hate, but something unreadable.
Momo began backpedaling, trying to keep a safe distance. "Ryu, be careful…you don't know what you're doing right now…without your Failure-" She tripped on an uneven area in the road and fell on her backside. Ryu stopped a few paces away from her, just as he had with Duran, and studied her. "Ryu, please…please don't hurt me…"
Ryu angled his head ever so slightly. I would never hurt you, Momo. She suddenly found herself in his arms, feeling the raw, primal energies surge around her, and she began to tremble. I love you… And he kissed her, gently pressing against her soft lips with his.
Momo's ears flipped nearly straight up at the revelation until he started to move his lips against hers, a sensuous massage, amazingly tender considering the nature of his Kaiser form. Her hands moved up to run their fingers through his hair, catching at the back of his head.
He finally broke the kiss and allowed her to get enough air to pant as he started planting smaller kisses on her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her-
"Oh god Ryu, not the neck…" she babbled as he nuzzled the soft skin. She half-heartedly tried to push him away. "Ryu, please…stop…"
It was as though someone had flipped Ryu's switch off. The flow of energy immediately subsided and he returned to his normal colors.
He slowly withdrew his face from her neck, a look of horror on his face. He couldn't look her in the eye, or anywhere else for that matter. "Oh no, I-I'm sorry…" He quickly let go of the near-topless young woman and scooted to sit a short distance away.
Momo, still trying to find her wits and deal with the sudden sense of loss, tried to console him. From a distance. "It's okay, Ryu. I'm fine, you're fine, everything's just...fine…" She found her top within reaching distance and started to put it on. "Look at me, Ryu."
Ryu continued to examine the ground.
"Let's just get back home and-" Her eyes widened. "Ryu! You're still bleeding!" She hurried to her feet and rushed over to her friend. "We have to treat that quickly!" She plopped down next to him to examine the wound below his arm. It had partially healed, likely during his time in Kaiser form, but it still required conventional treatment. "Come on Ryu, you could die from this!" She scowled at his stubborn form. "Come with me right now, Ryu!"
Ryu immediately rose and moved to stand next to her, still unable to meet her gaze.
"That's better." Momo took hold of the arm on his uninjured side and began to lead him back to the tower.