Author's Note: Phew! It's been a long while since my last chapter! ^_^
Anyways, thanks for all the reviews you all sent me! Okay, now for today's
episode.
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Gatekeepers. *sigh*
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Dark, gray clouds filled the sky with their gloominess. No longer puffs of white cotton-like forms, they were as black as the night, bearing a burden they could no longer hold. A stroke of lightning flashed, then all havoc was loose. The rain poured out from the heavens to the ground below. Thunder and lightning clashed with one another, a raging tumult deafening to the ears. A huge storm was brewing at the graveyard.
There, all clad in black, was Ruriko. She clutched her coat tightly, as the wind started to blow mercilessly. The wind howled in anguish. The dead, leafless trees trembled in fear. The yellowing leaves left on the ground untouched, were now swept up in a gust of wind and hurled in all directions, scattering them around the place, only to be blown again.
Ruriko ignored the rain. She ignored the storm. She ignored the wind. For tonight, she wanted only to mourn over the loss of her parents. The funeral was already over, but there she still stood, hardly daring to believe her parents are gone.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, merging with the raindrops that fell on her face, as she looked longingly at her parents' grave. Why did they have to die? Why?
Her thoughts were then interrupted by footsteps behind her. She slowly turned around. Ukiya?
Ukiya was there, holding an umbrella in his left hand and a bouquet of flowers in his right. But Ruriko noticed something was missing---his warm, comforting smile---just what she needed now in times of grief. But he bore none, except a grim expression.
Ukiya slowly walked up to her parents' grave and placed the flowers upon it. He then turned around to meet Ruriko's gaze. She couldn't bear it any longer. This feeling of sorrow. This feeling of helplessness. She jumped into Ukiya's open arms and cried her heart out, knowing he would give her some comfort. Ukiya smiled weakly, hugging her tightly, he wept quietly as well. The umbrella was left unattended on the wet ground.
~~~A LIGHT OF HOPE~~~
The storm out there was slowly calming down as the rain started to fade to a drizzle. Ruriko came into her room, wet and depressed, and flung herself on to her bed, bursting into tears. How would life be like, now that her parents were gone? It'd be so lonely---only her living in this huge house.
She tried to calm herself down and maintain a cool head. It was hard though, considering she just lost two of her loved ones. Slowly, she got up and took a small photo frame that was on her chest-of-drawers. She gazed at it for a while. It was a picture of her and her parents, taken during a holiday in Hokkaido. She'd never forget that day. Neither will she forget her parents who did so much for her. And so, she spent a sleepless night turning all her memories of her parents over and over in her mind.
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Ukiya, however, was walking down a dark alleyway---a shortcut to his house. He was silent the whole way, not knowing what to think of all this. He then thought of the item he had found at the scene of the crime before the police arrived. Should he have given it to them? No. What can they do? This is a personal matter.
"Hey!" His thoughts were cut short by a call from above. He looked up in wonder and saw a dark figure stooped on the roof. The silhouette jumped down from above, landing on the ground in front of Ukiya on his feet, like a stalking cat.
"Akio," Ukiya thought to himself in enmity.
There was a tense silence before either of them spoke.
"So," Akio broke the monotonous silence, "I heard Ruriko's parents just died."
Still no reply from Ukiya, who only gave a piercing look at him.
"How is she?"
Ukiya slowly stepped forward toward Akio. "Not so good. But I'll fix that--- ."
Suddenly, without warning, he stabbed Akio's left hand with a short blade. Akio staggered back. Blood flowed freely from his wound. He cringed in pain.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked in contempt, as he pulled out the blade that had wounded him. Then, he recognized that the blade was his own.
"It's your blade, isn't it?" said Ukiya, he then paused before adding, "I found it at the place of Ruriko's parents' death, smeared with blood."
He then took out his bouken. "I'll never forgive you! Shinku Missuail!" A blast of wind shot out at Akio. Akio jumped aside to dodge the shot and then, ran deeper into the alley.
"Oi! Matte!" Ukiya yelled as he gave chase after him, sending out a volley of 'vacuum missiles'.
Each of the shot hit the bare ground, throwing up asphalt and dirt that shattered on impact. Still Akio kept running, though his newly acquired injury proved to hinder his escape. Blood dripped to the ground, leaving a trail of fresh blood for Ukiya to pick out.
Akio halted as he found that he could not go on. It was a dead end. He turned around to see a furious Ukiya sending out one huge 'vacuum missile' at him. It hit the ground right in front of Akio, sending up a waft of dust and asphalt that hindered his vision.
Quite suddenly, before Akio could recover himself, Ukiya rushed forward through the dust, his right hand clenched and outstretched. He threw a punch at Akio's face. Akio, who had had enough of this, took the chance of attacking back. Using Ukiya's momentum as he rushed towards Akio, Akio held his good hand right in front of Ukiya's stomach and Ukiya undoubtedly crashed into his hand. He doubled over in pain. With one last punch, Akio fell Ukiya to the ground.
Before Ukiya could catch his breath and get up, Akio flashed his dagger at his throat. Ukiya hardly dare to breathe lest the foul blade caressed his neck. There was a tense silence again, broken only by Akio's heavy breathing and the dripping sound of blood.
"No," Akio pulled away his blade, "Ruriko has suffered enough already as it is."
With one last look at Ukiya, he fled into the shadows like a breeze.
Ukiya lifted his head and winced in pain---his stomach had an ugly bruise on it. He smeared the warm blood that was dripping from his temples, cursing his ill luck. Not only had he given away the blade, but also left Akio alive. "K'so!"
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The next day, in school, Ukiya entered the classroom, with an extra band- aid on his forehead. He headed toward the others who were already there. "Hi!"
Kaoru, on hearing Ukiya's voice, whirled around to say hi, accidentally hitting Ukiya's stomach in the process. Ukiya fell down and groaned in pain.
"Ukiya sempai! Are you all right?" Kaoru went to his side with a worried look on her face, "Did I hit you? I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay," Ukiya managed a forced smile, "It's nothi-OW!!!" He tried to get up, but it only worsened his condition.
"Ukiya-kun, you shouldn't move around much! You seem really hurt!" Ruriko expressed her concern as well.
"I'm telling you. I'm fine!" Ukiya still persisted.
"Ne, Ruriko," Kaoru turned toward her, "Use your gate to heal him or something."
"I said I'm okay already!!!" Ukiya bellowed. He wasn't feeling very good after the fight last night and he didn't fell like getting fussed over a stupid wound.
The others were a little shocked by this sudden outburst. But they had little time to wonder for Miss Ochiai's voice called them to the HQ over the school intercom.
"Well, there's our cue! Meet you all in the base," Ukiya hurriedly went off.
The others looked at one another. "Did you notice something odd about Ukiya today?" Ruriko asked.
"He seemed angry," replied Fei.
"I hope he's still not mad at me," Kaoru said repentantly.
"I noticed he got an extra band-aid on his forehead," Bancho added, receiving a few glares from the others in response, "What? Something I said?"
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"Nan desu ka, Shirei?" Ukiya asked, representing the whole group.
"A weird signal has been detected in area B62579 just a few minutes ago. It only lasted for a few seconds. The signal was a bit different from past electrical signals detected before. I doubt you won't stumble upon that new type of invaders again, so be wary," Shirei briefed them about the mission.
"If I might ask, where is this area?" Ruriko interrupted.
"One of the halls in Ryurin University. From what I've heard, a seminar on biotechnology is being held there. So, you'll have to disguise as university students there," Shirei then hastily added, "Be very careful. We do not know what the invaders' new leader's objectives are. Now go!" Shirei did his favorite hand pose.
"Ryoukai, AEGIS!" the Gatekeepers did the AEGIS salute.
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Meanwhile, the seminar was just about to begin by the time they reached there. They quickly took some seats and kept an eye on any suspicious- looking characters, waiting for the invaders to strike.
"Testing. Testing 1 2 3," the Master of Ceremony tested the microphone on stage. Satisfied that it was in perfect working order, he began his prepared speech, "Ladies and gentleman! I thank you all for coming to join this seminar on biotechnology! As you all very well know, the future of humankind lies not in any other fields of science but in the field of biotechnology!"
Ukiya snorted. "This is gonna be a looooooooong day." He turned to see that Bancho had already fallen asleep.
"Hey! Wake up!" If he was going to sit through all this boring talk on biotechnology, so should Bancho. Bancho grumbled as he woke up from his sleep.
"Without further much ado, I invite Mr. Richard Lee, a renown biotechnology professor, to give you his speech!" Applause from the audience greeted the man as he walked up on to the stage. He was a tall man in a white suit. He had thin lips and dark, prominent eyebrows and also wore spectacles.
"Greetings to all!" he flashed a bright smile, "I thank you all for inviting me to this seminar to talk about the one thing that really matters- --biotechnology! As you can see---."
Ukiya was already about to doze off as the professor began to launch into his speech. If they had been looking carefully, they would have seen a dark figure hiding behind one of the pillars that supported the hall's ceiling.
"The gatekeepers are here! What do I do?" he asked into what looked like a small communicator.
"Just proceed with the plan. If they interfere, eliminate them!" the voice on the other end said. "This plan must not fail! Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!" he off the communicator, muttering to himself, "Easy for him to say---."
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"Hey, you two! Wake up!" Ruriko shook Ukiya and Bancho from their slumber.
"Huh? Wha? Where am I?"
"Look what's happening!" Ruriko said.
Ukiya rubbed his eyes and looked around. Everything seemed normal, except that some people were getting up from their seats and suddenly changing into---invaders!
"Oh man! Not them again!" Ukiya took out his bouken and the others took out their weapons as well.
The hall was already in chaos. Everyone fled as soon as they saw the invaders appear among them. But, the doors were locked from the outside. They were all trapped!
"Bancho! Try breaking down the doors and evacuating the people. Ruriko, help him evacuate the people. Kaoru and Fei, come with me!" Ukiya barked out his commands before rushing into the midst of the invaders, his bouken outstretched.
"Ultra Whirlwind Thrust!" A group of invaders were shred to pieces by the wind blades.
Meanwhile, Bancho went over to the door that was blocking the entrance. "Stand aside!" Bancho charged headlong toward the door as everyone scrambled away from his path. With a crack, he broke the door clean off its hinges and the people rejoiced as they rushed out to safety.
"This way, people! Everyone out!" Ruriko led them through the door. Before long, only the Gatekeepers and the invaders were left in the hall.
"Fools! You let them escape!" a red invader, presumably the leader, bellowed.
"Sorry, guys! But you'll have to pass through us first!" Ukiya and the others grouped themselves near the door.
"Kill them!!!" the red invader glared at them, "Begin the fusion process!"
The invaders then fused themselves into---a huge behemoth of a monster with four huge arms and two huge legs the size of tree trunks. It had one razor- sharp horn on its head and three glowing red eyes like rubies.
It swiped the ground with its huge arm, causing the Gatekeepers to scatter.
Ukiya, Ruriko and Fei kept it occupied with their various projectiles, but they don't seem to even damage the invader.
Kaoru rushed toward the invader. "Kaoru Punch!" She landed a punch on its body, but to little effect.
"Get out of the way!" Bancho had found a huge pillar that had dropped down earlier and threw it at the invader. The invader was pushed back by the impact and crashed against the wall throwing up dust into the air.
"You did it, Bancho!" Ukiya said.
But it was too early to rejoice, for the invader was still alive. It pushed the pillar away and slowly got up on its legs.
"No way!" Ukiya said in disbelief. "Aiaiai!"
Ruriko nock three arrows to her bow and took aim. "I bet one of those eyes are its weak point! Here goes nothing!" She let fly the arrows and they sailed toward their targets.
Each one of them hit each one of its eyes, but it only caused the invader to be enraged. It stamped the ground in fury, causing a slight tremor that shook the Gatekeepers off their feet.
"Perhaps we have to try a different approach," said Ukiya, "Ruriko come with me! We'll attack it from the back! The rest of you, keep the pressure up at the front!"
The two then quickly stole away toward the back of the invader, who was busy fending off the blows of the others.
"Now!" Ukiya and Ruriko unleashed their projectiles at its back. The invader seemed stunned for a second, and they got a glimpse of the weak point. "Again!" They unleashed their projectiles again at the weak point and the invader bellowed in pain, and then dematerialized into a shower of green crystals, and a small red crystal amongst them.
"Phew! We did it!" Ukiya smiled to the others, "Let's go home!"
They all then walked toward the gaping hole where the door once stood.
"Coming, Ruriko?" Ukiya asked.
Ruriko was staring at the pile of crystals on the ground. She turned around and nodded her head, slowly walking toward him.
Suddenly, the red crystal floated in mid-air and the pile of green crystals began to materialize around it into black matter. Ruriko was unaware that the invader was reforming itself!
Ukiya saw it first. "Ruriko, watch out!"
She turned around and didn't even have time to scream as the invader, fully reformed, swiped the ground, knocking her off her feet and five meters away.
The others were now aware that the invader had reformed itself.
"Ruriko! Get a hold of yourself! Ruriko!" Ukiya yelled from afar, for he could not reach her since she lay beyond the invader, who was reluctant to let them pass him.
Ruriko however sank into unconsciousness.
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"Wh-where am I?"
"In your mind."
"Who are you?"
"That does not matter, my child. The question is what are you going to do now?"
"Huh?"
"Your friends are in danger and need your help. Will you give it to them?"
"Help? I couldn't even help my parents when they died. I'm no help to anyone. How do you expect me to help them?"
"So you wish to die?"
"Well, yes. If that's what it takes for me to see my parents again."
"Do you want your friends to die?"
"What? No, of course not!"
"Do you want your friends to grief over your death?"
"No!"
"Then why do you wish to die?"
"Because. . .I. . .I. . ."
"It is not for us to choose who shall live and who shall die. It is all in the hand of fate."
". . ."
"You are fated to live. Use that chance wisely. Now, do you wish to help your friends?"
". . .yes. Yes! What have I been thinking? Of course I'll help my friends!"
"Then, may you fare well in battle. Release your spirit. Release your soul. . .Ayako. . ."
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Ruriko opened her eyes and saw that her friends were fighting a losing battle. She got herself on her feet and started walking slowly toward the invader.
The invader seeing that a new target had willingly came to him, started to shoot bright balls of energy from its three red eyes. Ruriko ignored the shots for all of them seemed to narrowly missed her, though she was only walking straight toward the invader. She seemed like in a trance; an expressionless face wore on as a mask. When she got near enough, the invader lifted its huge arm, ready to strike.
"Ruriko!!!" Ukiya yelled, now aware of the impending danger about to befall Ruriko.
But too late, the arm struck Ruriko and a huge dust cloud was kicked up in the air.
"No!!!" Ukiya shouted till his voice was hoarse; he was down on his knees.
Even the invader thought it had managed to kill off Ruriko, but then saw that she was not dead yet. As the dust cloud was blown off by a gust of wind, they all saw that the arm had not in fact hit Ruriko, but rather it was blocked by some unseen force in front of her.
She was holding her hand outstretched; her gate had been opened and that force field was her doing. The others could have sworn that she was glowing a golden yellow too, but they thought it was a trick of the light.
The invader's arm was still stuck on the force field and it was now stunned for some reason. All was silent for now.
Then, at last, Ruriko spoke, in a cold, whispery voice that sounded ominous in the silence. "Be gone."
With those two words, suddenly a light that was even brighter than the sun blinded them all. The others had to shield their eyes, wondering what is happening as the invader shrieked in agony. What their eyes could not see was that Ruriko was that source of light, and other than blinding the invader, it slowly ate the creature from the tip of its arm that tried to hit her till the tip of its horn, till no trace of it, not even crystals, were left.
When the others managed to open their eyes, they were surprised to see that the invader had vanished into thin air. Ukiya rushed to Ruriko's side and listened for her heartbeat. To his relief, she was still breathing.
"Quick, we've got to bring her back to base!"
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Meanwhile, in another headquarters that was definitely not owned by AEGIS, Megumi entered the main room. A man was sitting in a chair at the head of the table. He remained a dark figure to Megumi, for the base was poorly lit.
"So, I hear that the mission was a total flop," the man sneered.
Megumi remained silent.
The man sighed. "Never mind. By the way, have you collected the data I wanted?"
"Yes, sir." Megumi took out a compact disc and inserted it into the disk drive of the main CPU. A screen appeared behind her. At first, it was blank, but then it began to show some pictures.
"This is the data of the Gatekeepers remaining in Japan," she began.
One by one, a picture of each of the Gatekeepers appeared on the screen.
"Fen Feiring possesses the Gate of Red-hot. She's been a Gatekeeper longer than the others, hence she has some experience."
"Kaoru Konoe possesses the Gate of Close-combat. Her physical prowess is dangerous, though she might prove useless in long-range combat."
"Banba Chotaro aka Bancho possesses a gate similar to Kaoru Konoe, though his strength is even more. He is a bumbling idiot, if I may add and may prove to be harmless, though his brawn can make up for that."
With disdain, she continued, "Ruriko Ikusawa possesses the Gate of Life. Only useful as a medic and nothing more. She is useless, incompetent, smarty-pants, know-it-all---."
"Please," interrupted the man, "Continue."
"Sorry, I got carried away. And last but not least, Shun Ukiya, the leader of the group, possesses the Gate of Gale. A worthy adversary. He was the one who defeated Reiji Kageyama."
"Well, we shall see about that," added the man in an undertone. "Excellent, Megumi! But what about that renegade black Gatekeeper? I heard he had bothered our operations a few times."
"Much about him, I do not know, sir. I only know that he is also an enemy with the Gatekeepers. I shall find out more and report back to you as soon as I can."
"Very well, Megumi. You are dismissed."
Megumi walked out of the room and only that man was left alone in the main room, for that was his private office.
He placed his elbows on the table and rested this forehead on his hands as he sighed.
"This is some twist of fate. After all these years, Kazero, you and your wretched friends are back again. But I shall not lose again to you. No, no indeed, my brother. . ."
With that, he let out a long, sinister laugh.
~~~To be continued. . .~~~
Author's note: The plot thickens. Oh well, send me your reviews. I accept flames as well (hopefully you won't sent any ^^), but no spam! (that means you, Prof. Q and Rez) Well, till next time, ja!^^
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Gatekeepers. *sigh*
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Dark, gray clouds filled the sky with their gloominess. No longer puffs of white cotton-like forms, they were as black as the night, bearing a burden they could no longer hold. A stroke of lightning flashed, then all havoc was loose. The rain poured out from the heavens to the ground below. Thunder and lightning clashed with one another, a raging tumult deafening to the ears. A huge storm was brewing at the graveyard.
There, all clad in black, was Ruriko. She clutched her coat tightly, as the wind started to blow mercilessly. The wind howled in anguish. The dead, leafless trees trembled in fear. The yellowing leaves left on the ground untouched, were now swept up in a gust of wind and hurled in all directions, scattering them around the place, only to be blown again.
Ruriko ignored the rain. She ignored the storm. She ignored the wind. For tonight, she wanted only to mourn over the loss of her parents. The funeral was already over, but there she still stood, hardly daring to believe her parents are gone.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, merging with the raindrops that fell on her face, as she looked longingly at her parents' grave. Why did they have to die? Why?
Her thoughts were then interrupted by footsteps behind her. She slowly turned around. Ukiya?
Ukiya was there, holding an umbrella in his left hand and a bouquet of flowers in his right. But Ruriko noticed something was missing---his warm, comforting smile---just what she needed now in times of grief. But he bore none, except a grim expression.
Ukiya slowly walked up to her parents' grave and placed the flowers upon it. He then turned around to meet Ruriko's gaze. She couldn't bear it any longer. This feeling of sorrow. This feeling of helplessness. She jumped into Ukiya's open arms and cried her heart out, knowing he would give her some comfort. Ukiya smiled weakly, hugging her tightly, he wept quietly as well. The umbrella was left unattended on the wet ground.
~~~A LIGHT OF HOPE~~~
The storm out there was slowly calming down as the rain started to fade to a drizzle. Ruriko came into her room, wet and depressed, and flung herself on to her bed, bursting into tears. How would life be like, now that her parents were gone? It'd be so lonely---only her living in this huge house.
She tried to calm herself down and maintain a cool head. It was hard though, considering she just lost two of her loved ones. Slowly, she got up and took a small photo frame that was on her chest-of-drawers. She gazed at it for a while. It was a picture of her and her parents, taken during a holiday in Hokkaido. She'd never forget that day. Neither will she forget her parents who did so much for her. And so, she spent a sleepless night turning all her memories of her parents over and over in her mind.
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Ukiya, however, was walking down a dark alleyway---a shortcut to his house. He was silent the whole way, not knowing what to think of all this. He then thought of the item he had found at the scene of the crime before the police arrived. Should he have given it to them? No. What can they do? This is a personal matter.
"Hey!" His thoughts were cut short by a call from above. He looked up in wonder and saw a dark figure stooped on the roof. The silhouette jumped down from above, landing on the ground in front of Ukiya on his feet, like a stalking cat.
"Akio," Ukiya thought to himself in enmity.
There was a tense silence before either of them spoke.
"So," Akio broke the monotonous silence, "I heard Ruriko's parents just died."
Still no reply from Ukiya, who only gave a piercing look at him.
"How is she?"
Ukiya slowly stepped forward toward Akio. "Not so good. But I'll fix that--- ."
Suddenly, without warning, he stabbed Akio's left hand with a short blade. Akio staggered back. Blood flowed freely from his wound. He cringed in pain.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked in contempt, as he pulled out the blade that had wounded him. Then, he recognized that the blade was his own.
"It's your blade, isn't it?" said Ukiya, he then paused before adding, "I found it at the place of Ruriko's parents' death, smeared with blood."
He then took out his bouken. "I'll never forgive you! Shinku Missuail!" A blast of wind shot out at Akio. Akio jumped aside to dodge the shot and then, ran deeper into the alley.
"Oi! Matte!" Ukiya yelled as he gave chase after him, sending out a volley of 'vacuum missiles'.
Each of the shot hit the bare ground, throwing up asphalt and dirt that shattered on impact. Still Akio kept running, though his newly acquired injury proved to hinder his escape. Blood dripped to the ground, leaving a trail of fresh blood for Ukiya to pick out.
Akio halted as he found that he could not go on. It was a dead end. He turned around to see a furious Ukiya sending out one huge 'vacuum missile' at him. It hit the ground right in front of Akio, sending up a waft of dust and asphalt that hindered his vision.
Quite suddenly, before Akio could recover himself, Ukiya rushed forward through the dust, his right hand clenched and outstretched. He threw a punch at Akio's face. Akio, who had had enough of this, took the chance of attacking back. Using Ukiya's momentum as he rushed towards Akio, Akio held his good hand right in front of Ukiya's stomach and Ukiya undoubtedly crashed into his hand. He doubled over in pain. With one last punch, Akio fell Ukiya to the ground.
Before Ukiya could catch his breath and get up, Akio flashed his dagger at his throat. Ukiya hardly dare to breathe lest the foul blade caressed his neck. There was a tense silence again, broken only by Akio's heavy breathing and the dripping sound of blood.
"No," Akio pulled away his blade, "Ruriko has suffered enough already as it is."
With one last look at Ukiya, he fled into the shadows like a breeze.
Ukiya lifted his head and winced in pain---his stomach had an ugly bruise on it. He smeared the warm blood that was dripping from his temples, cursing his ill luck. Not only had he given away the blade, but also left Akio alive. "K'so!"
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The next day, in school, Ukiya entered the classroom, with an extra band- aid on his forehead. He headed toward the others who were already there. "Hi!"
Kaoru, on hearing Ukiya's voice, whirled around to say hi, accidentally hitting Ukiya's stomach in the process. Ukiya fell down and groaned in pain.
"Ukiya sempai! Are you all right?" Kaoru went to his side with a worried look on her face, "Did I hit you? I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay," Ukiya managed a forced smile, "It's nothi-OW!!!" He tried to get up, but it only worsened his condition.
"Ukiya-kun, you shouldn't move around much! You seem really hurt!" Ruriko expressed her concern as well.
"I'm telling you. I'm fine!" Ukiya still persisted.
"Ne, Ruriko," Kaoru turned toward her, "Use your gate to heal him or something."
"I said I'm okay already!!!" Ukiya bellowed. He wasn't feeling very good after the fight last night and he didn't fell like getting fussed over a stupid wound.
The others were a little shocked by this sudden outburst. But they had little time to wonder for Miss Ochiai's voice called them to the HQ over the school intercom.
"Well, there's our cue! Meet you all in the base," Ukiya hurriedly went off.
The others looked at one another. "Did you notice something odd about Ukiya today?" Ruriko asked.
"He seemed angry," replied Fei.
"I hope he's still not mad at me," Kaoru said repentantly.
"I noticed he got an extra band-aid on his forehead," Bancho added, receiving a few glares from the others in response, "What? Something I said?"
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"Nan desu ka, Shirei?" Ukiya asked, representing the whole group.
"A weird signal has been detected in area B62579 just a few minutes ago. It only lasted for a few seconds. The signal was a bit different from past electrical signals detected before. I doubt you won't stumble upon that new type of invaders again, so be wary," Shirei briefed them about the mission.
"If I might ask, where is this area?" Ruriko interrupted.
"One of the halls in Ryurin University. From what I've heard, a seminar on biotechnology is being held there. So, you'll have to disguise as university students there," Shirei then hastily added, "Be very careful. We do not know what the invaders' new leader's objectives are. Now go!" Shirei did his favorite hand pose.
"Ryoukai, AEGIS!" the Gatekeepers did the AEGIS salute.
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Meanwhile, the seminar was just about to begin by the time they reached there. They quickly took some seats and kept an eye on any suspicious- looking characters, waiting for the invaders to strike.
"Testing. Testing 1 2 3," the Master of Ceremony tested the microphone on stage. Satisfied that it was in perfect working order, he began his prepared speech, "Ladies and gentleman! I thank you all for coming to join this seminar on biotechnology! As you all very well know, the future of humankind lies not in any other fields of science but in the field of biotechnology!"
Ukiya snorted. "This is gonna be a looooooooong day." He turned to see that Bancho had already fallen asleep.
"Hey! Wake up!" If he was going to sit through all this boring talk on biotechnology, so should Bancho. Bancho grumbled as he woke up from his sleep.
"Without further much ado, I invite Mr. Richard Lee, a renown biotechnology professor, to give you his speech!" Applause from the audience greeted the man as he walked up on to the stage. He was a tall man in a white suit. He had thin lips and dark, prominent eyebrows and also wore spectacles.
"Greetings to all!" he flashed a bright smile, "I thank you all for inviting me to this seminar to talk about the one thing that really matters- --biotechnology! As you can see---."
Ukiya was already about to doze off as the professor began to launch into his speech. If they had been looking carefully, they would have seen a dark figure hiding behind one of the pillars that supported the hall's ceiling.
"The gatekeepers are here! What do I do?" he asked into what looked like a small communicator.
"Just proceed with the plan. If they interfere, eliminate them!" the voice on the other end said. "This plan must not fail! Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!" he off the communicator, muttering to himself, "Easy for him to say---."
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"Hey, you two! Wake up!" Ruriko shook Ukiya and Bancho from their slumber.
"Huh? Wha? Where am I?"
"Look what's happening!" Ruriko said.
Ukiya rubbed his eyes and looked around. Everything seemed normal, except that some people were getting up from their seats and suddenly changing into---invaders!
"Oh man! Not them again!" Ukiya took out his bouken and the others took out their weapons as well.
The hall was already in chaos. Everyone fled as soon as they saw the invaders appear among them. But, the doors were locked from the outside. They were all trapped!
"Bancho! Try breaking down the doors and evacuating the people. Ruriko, help him evacuate the people. Kaoru and Fei, come with me!" Ukiya barked out his commands before rushing into the midst of the invaders, his bouken outstretched.
"Ultra Whirlwind Thrust!" A group of invaders were shred to pieces by the wind blades.
Meanwhile, Bancho went over to the door that was blocking the entrance. "Stand aside!" Bancho charged headlong toward the door as everyone scrambled away from his path. With a crack, he broke the door clean off its hinges and the people rejoiced as they rushed out to safety.
"This way, people! Everyone out!" Ruriko led them through the door. Before long, only the Gatekeepers and the invaders were left in the hall.
"Fools! You let them escape!" a red invader, presumably the leader, bellowed.
"Sorry, guys! But you'll have to pass through us first!" Ukiya and the others grouped themselves near the door.
"Kill them!!!" the red invader glared at them, "Begin the fusion process!"
The invaders then fused themselves into---a huge behemoth of a monster with four huge arms and two huge legs the size of tree trunks. It had one razor- sharp horn on its head and three glowing red eyes like rubies.
It swiped the ground with its huge arm, causing the Gatekeepers to scatter.
Ukiya, Ruriko and Fei kept it occupied with their various projectiles, but they don't seem to even damage the invader.
Kaoru rushed toward the invader. "Kaoru Punch!" She landed a punch on its body, but to little effect.
"Get out of the way!" Bancho had found a huge pillar that had dropped down earlier and threw it at the invader. The invader was pushed back by the impact and crashed against the wall throwing up dust into the air.
"You did it, Bancho!" Ukiya said.
But it was too early to rejoice, for the invader was still alive. It pushed the pillar away and slowly got up on its legs.
"No way!" Ukiya said in disbelief. "Aiaiai!"
Ruriko nock three arrows to her bow and took aim. "I bet one of those eyes are its weak point! Here goes nothing!" She let fly the arrows and they sailed toward their targets.
Each one of them hit each one of its eyes, but it only caused the invader to be enraged. It stamped the ground in fury, causing a slight tremor that shook the Gatekeepers off their feet.
"Perhaps we have to try a different approach," said Ukiya, "Ruriko come with me! We'll attack it from the back! The rest of you, keep the pressure up at the front!"
The two then quickly stole away toward the back of the invader, who was busy fending off the blows of the others.
"Now!" Ukiya and Ruriko unleashed their projectiles at its back. The invader seemed stunned for a second, and they got a glimpse of the weak point. "Again!" They unleashed their projectiles again at the weak point and the invader bellowed in pain, and then dematerialized into a shower of green crystals, and a small red crystal amongst them.
"Phew! We did it!" Ukiya smiled to the others, "Let's go home!"
They all then walked toward the gaping hole where the door once stood.
"Coming, Ruriko?" Ukiya asked.
Ruriko was staring at the pile of crystals on the ground. She turned around and nodded her head, slowly walking toward him.
Suddenly, the red crystal floated in mid-air and the pile of green crystals began to materialize around it into black matter. Ruriko was unaware that the invader was reforming itself!
Ukiya saw it first. "Ruriko, watch out!"
She turned around and didn't even have time to scream as the invader, fully reformed, swiped the ground, knocking her off her feet and five meters away.
The others were now aware that the invader had reformed itself.
"Ruriko! Get a hold of yourself! Ruriko!" Ukiya yelled from afar, for he could not reach her since she lay beyond the invader, who was reluctant to let them pass him.
Ruriko however sank into unconsciousness.
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"Wh-where am I?"
"In your mind."
"Who are you?"
"That does not matter, my child. The question is what are you going to do now?"
"Huh?"
"Your friends are in danger and need your help. Will you give it to them?"
"Help? I couldn't even help my parents when they died. I'm no help to anyone. How do you expect me to help them?"
"So you wish to die?"
"Well, yes. If that's what it takes for me to see my parents again."
"Do you want your friends to die?"
"What? No, of course not!"
"Do you want your friends to grief over your death?"
"No!"
"Then why do you wish to die?"
"Because. . .I. . .I. . ."
"It is not for us to choose who shall live and who shall die. It is all in the hand of fate."
". . ."
"You are fated to live. Use that chance wisely. Now, do you wish to help your friends?"
". . .yes. Yes! What have I been thinking? Of course I'll help my friends!"
"Then, may you fare well in battle. Release your spirit. Release your soul. . .Ayako. . ."
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Ruriko opened her eyes and saw that her friends were fighting a losing battle. She got herself on her feet and started walking slowly toward the invader.
The invader seeing that a new target had willingly came to him, started to shoot bright balls of energy from its three red eyes. Ruriko ignored the shots for all of them seemed to narrowly missed her, though she was only walking straight toward the invader. She seemed like in a trance; an expressionless face wore on as a mask. When she got near enough, the invader lifted its huge arm, ready to strike.
"Ruriko!!!" Ukiya yelled, now aware of the impending danger about to befall Ruriko.
But too late, the arm struck Ruriko and a huge dust cloud was kicked up in the air.
"No!!!" Ukiya shouted till his voice was hoarse; he was down on his knees.
Even the invader thought it had managed to kill off Ruriko, but then saw that she was not dead yet. As the dust cloud was blown off by a gust of wind, they all saw that the arm had not in fact hit Ruriko, but rather it was blocked by some unseen force in front of her.
She was holding her hand outstretched; her gate had been opened and that force field was her doing. The others could have sworn that she was glowing a golden yellow too, but they thought it was a trick of the light.
The invader's arm was still stuck on the force field and it was now stunned for some reason. All was silent for now.
Then, at last, Ruriko spoke, in a cold, whispery voice that sounded ominous in the silence. "Be gone."
With those two words, suddenly a light that was even brighter than the sun blinded them all. The others had to shield their eyes, wondering what is happening as the invader shrieked in agony. What their eyes could not see was that Ruriko was that source of light, and other than blinding the invader, it slowly ate the creature from the tip of its arm that tried to hit her till the tip of its horn, till no trace of it, not even crystals, were left.
When the others managed to open their eyes, they were surprised to see that the invader had vanished into thin air. Ukiya rushed to Ruriko's side and listened for her heartbeat. To his relief, she was still breathing.
"Quick, we've got to bring her back to base!"
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Meanwhile, in another headquarters that was definitely not owned by AEGIS, Megumi entered the main room. A man was sitting in a chair at the head of the table. He remained a dark figure to Megumi, for the base was poorly lit.
"So, I hear that the mission was a total flop," the man sneered.
Megumi remained silent.
The man sighed. "Never mind. By the way, have you collected the data I wanted?"
"Yes, sir." Megumi took out a compact disc and inserted it into the disk drive of the main CPU. A screen appeared behind her. At first, it was blank, but then it began to show some pictures.
"This is the data of the Gatekeepers remaining in Japan," she began.
One by one, a picture of each of the Gatekeepers appeared on the screen.
"Fen Feiring possesses the Gate of Red-hot. She's been a Gatekeeper longer than the others, hence she has some experience."
"Kaoru Konoe possesses the Gate of Close-combat. Her physical prowess is dangerous, though she might prove useless in long-range combat."
"Banba Chotaro aka Bancho possesses a gate similar to Kaoru Konoe, though his strength is even more. He is a bumbling idiot, if I may add and may prove to be harmless, though his brawn can make up for that."
With disdain, she continued, "Ruriko Ikusawa possesses the Gate of Life. Only useful as a medic and nothing more. She is useless, incompetent, smarty-pants, know-it-all---."
"Please," interrupted the man, "Continue."
"Sorry, I got carried away. And last but not least, Shun Ukiya, the leader of the group, possesses the Gate of Gale. A worthy adversary. He was the one who defeated Reiji Kageyama."
"Well, we shall see about that," added the man in an undertone. "Excellent, Megumi! But what about that renegade black Gatekeeper? I heard he had bothered our operations a few times."
"Much about him, I do not know, sir. I only know that he is also an enemy with the Gatekeepers. I shall find out more and report back to you as soon as I can."
"Very well, Megumi. You are dismissed."
Megumi walked out of the room and only that man was left alone in the main room, for that was his private office.
He placed his elbows on the table and rested this forehead on his hands as he sighed.
"This is some twist of fate. After all these years, Kazero, you and your wretched friends are back again. But I shall not lose again to you. No, no indeed, my brother. . ."
With that, he let out a long, sinister laugh.
~~~To be continued. . .~~~
Author's note: The plot thickens. Oh well, send me your reviews. I accept flames as well (hopefully you won't sent any ^^), but no spam! (that means you, Prof. Q and Rez) Well, till next time, ja!^^