Revenance
By S. Arallion
Based on "Ronin Warriors"
(the English version of the anime series "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers")
Disclaimer: All characters in this story are owned by their respective copyright holders—namely, not myself. Anything you don't recognize is my fault. I make absolutely no profit from my use of these characters. ~~Arallion
Part 7: Power Play~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ack! It's cold!" Kento, materializing with the rest of the Warriors and Warlords on the crest of an escarpment, ducked his head in startled reaction.
"No kidding," Ryo grimaced, covering his ears with his hands.
They looked out across a barren wasteland of tortured-looking black rock, boulders scattered carelessly across it like forgotten children's toys. "This way," Kayura's voice chimed in the Ronin's ears, as she stepped forward lightly, showing them an obscure path down the sheer face.
"You brought us directly here," Cale observed curiously.
"I didn't have to be cautious this time," Kayura returned. "Talpa already knows we're coming back, and how many of us there are. We need to strike quickly and strong, before they regain strength."
They clambered down the face of the cliff and headed at a rapid pace towards the open canyon barely visible at the far side of the valley. A chill, pale light shone on them from above, but the source was unknown, hidden in the growing clouds. Fog began to surround them on the ground, not quite enough to block their vision, but an annoyance nonetheless.
"Ryo, I'm going up to see what I can see," Rowan finally said, brushing his forelock out of his eyes and hefting his bow. Drawing on the power of Strata, the boy raised up into the air high above the party as they continued forward. All of the warriors held their weapons nervously, except for Kayura, who continued moving forward purposefully to the gentle jingling of the Ancient's staff.
"I sense something amiss." Dais spoke for the first time, his white hair beginning to blend into the fog. He held out a hand to stay them, at the same moment that Rowan hurtled down from the sky into their midst.
"Dynasty soldiers! Lots of them!" the blue-haired Ronin gasped, staggering from his impact with the ground.
"Let's take care of it then," the Ronin leader said, straightening. "Armor of Wildfire, tao chi!"
"Armor of Halo—"
"Armor of Hardrock—"
"Armor of Torrent—"
The Warlords looked at each other. "How come we don't have anything fancy like that?" Cale complained rhetorically.
Sekhmet tested the edge of one of his swords with a finger. "Perhaps it wears off after a few hundred years," he observed with a laconic smile. Cale gave him a dirty look.
"Gentlemen," Kayura warned, in a tone that dripped sarcasm. "We have company…"
The first wave of soldiers appeared out of the mist, shrieking a battle cry. The warriors split up to blast the enemy with their special attacks, wanting to waste as little time as possible on the diversion. However, when the dust cleared, the only thing visible was scarred rock and melted runoff.
"What the—"
"It's an illusion," Dais yelled angrily. "He's trying to get us to waste our energy on phantasms."
Ryo raced over to the scarred Warlord. "So how do we know what's the illusion and what's the real thing?"
Dais looked at him grimly. "We don't. Not really—I can sense illusion being created and used, but we can't rely on that. It could too easily be used to trap us."
"Damn," Ryo swore, punching his gauntleted hands together. "Well, I guess we don't have a choice but to go on this way, right?"
They formed up again, moving forward warily. Kayura walked in the center of them all, and Rowan scouted from above. They had more encounters, some of which were real, and some illusory. The tension began to wear on them all, but finally they reached the canyon.
Rowan landed in front of them, beginning to look tired. "Hey guys. I don't see anything on the tops of the cliffs, but that doesn't mean there won't be something when we start in. Ahead the canyon tightens until you end up in sort of a cave, it looks like. I wouldn't trust it, but I think it's where we have to go."
"You are correct, Rowan," sighed Kayura. "That is the entrance to Talpa's domain—the real one, not his Dynasty illusion of a palace."
"You mean this is where everything is—really?" Sage looked into the dark canyon with wide, amazed eyes.
"It didn't look this cramped before," Kento joked. Sekhmet let out a dark laugh.
"Let us move on," Kayura prodded, stepping forward to the jingling of her staff.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
The voice was almost unfamiliar in its expressionless quality, falling flat without even an echo in the reverberant canyon.
"Oh, great," Cale growled. He raised his voice. "Couldn't you have waited until we were a little further inside?"
A soft chuckle answered him, and it sent chills down their spines. "Probably, but what would be the fun in that?" Out of the shadows of a jagged outcropping, an armored figure appeared, eyes glowing red from the shelter of a monstrous faceplate. "So, I see you brought some friends this time. How would you like to play this? One at a time, or all of you at once?" The gauntlets flexed on the handle of a wicked-looking kusari-gama, and the figure's stance settled a bit, almost relaxed.
Dais' lips thinned in anger, and he moved to pull forth his weapon. Kayura's hand came down heavily on his, though, stopping him. "Let him make the first move," she murmured to them all.
"What's the matter, warriors?" The voice became slightly mocking. "Don't you want to come inside? Or has the gratitude of the mortal realm made you weak—afraid to test your skills after so long?" The chain of the kusari-gama began to rotate, gradually picking up speed.
Kayura stepped out of the protection of the others, the staff of the Ancient One held in front of her. "Anubis. You must hear me—we are not here to fight you. We are here to restore you to yourself, just as you once did for me."
The blazing eyes narrowed behind the ogre helm. "You are here to restore me? How very altruistic of you, Lady. Yet, unnecessary. My power is great, as is my loyalty to my Master—"
"Anubis, he is not a Master of your choosing!" Kayura's voice rose desperately over the whistling of the weapon. She tried yet again to touch the silver thread that was his soul with her thoughts, but the Ankoku presence pushed her away.
The red glare flickered for a brief moment in the warrior's eyes, but returned stronger than before. Kayura could almost feel the heavy weight of Talpa's mind smothering them with fear and hatred. The Warlord of Cruelty soared into the air with a shriek of defiance, and the enchanted chain-flail of the kusari-gama launched towards them.
"Quake with Fear!"
Kayura closed her eyes as the spiked end of the chain drove right for her heart, but she was slammed into by an armored body and staggered helplessly to the side. "This is exactly where he wants us!" someone shouted nearby, as the ground began to tremble. She heard the earth crack as the chain multiplied under its crust, launching back forth in a deadly web of iron links that crisscrossed the narrow passageway.
"Dodge!" Cale's voice yelled frantically. She, however, was too late. The chains entangled her limbs, pulling her upward and wrapping around her neck chokingly. The Ancient's staff was torn from her grasp to fall like so much firewood to the stone.
The cracking and popping of the violated earth subsided fitfully into silence, leaving only the ragged breathing of the stunned allies. A thin chuckle broke the peace. Kayura opened her eyes, to watch the graceful descent of the Warlord of Cruelty. His eyes met hers with a vicious smile, and she shuddered despite herself.
Below her Kento and Sage had somehow managed to keep from becoming tangled in the steel web. Dais had nearly managed to escape, but he appeared to have been tossed into a rock by the force of the chain explosion, and was motionless against the wall. Cale was caught by one foot. Sekhmet was nowhere to be seen. Cye, Rowan and Ryo were caught very near her, and she suspected that the body that had pushed her away from the initial impact had been one of them.
Kento had a grumpy look on his face. "All right, that's it," he shouted. "Anubis, Talpa, whoever you are, you're gonna have a really big headache when I'm done with you." Combining his weapon into a heavy steel rod, he hissed to Sage, "See if you can get them free while I distract him!"
Sage nodded shortly and darted up the maze of chains to where the other Ronins and Kayura dangled helplessly.
"I don't know why you're even bothering, boy," the Warlord of Cruelty snapped flatly as Kento stomped forward. He dropped to a wary crouch, nonetheless.
Kento suddenly exploded into motion and slammed his weapon into the flexible armor of Anubis' side. Surprisingly, the Warlord didn't dodge the obvious attack, and a pained huff of air escaped him. One gauntlet slapped down on the offending weapon, and Kento jumped backward, pulling it away hastily. He snarled and swung again, but this time the Warlord leaped away, actually hopping backward up the jagged rocks and launching himself over Kento's head to get out of range. Kento caught his balance and brought the rod up just in time to block a swipe from the scythe portion of Anubis' kusari-gama as the Warlord flew by.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryo, watching from above, blinked in surprise.
"Hey, Ryo, did you see that?" Cye whispered in his light voice. "The glow from that phoenix emblem faded for a second, just as Kento started to swing that second time."
"Yeah, I saw it, Cye. I also saw how he couldn't dodge that first swing, although he had to have seen it coming."
Kayura shook her black hair out of her eyes and tried to move to ease the pressure on her neck. "Talpa still battles in the way he knows best," she gasped, unable to get enough air to make more than a cryptic statement.
Rowan caught on to her meaning. "So, Talpa can't control Anubis' actions and still have him be effective in hand-to-hand combat, right? Because Talpa only knows how to fight with brute force, while Anubis relies on speed and agility. The trickier the maneuver, the more control Talpa has to give back to Anubis—because he doesn't know how to fight that way."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ryo looked meaningfully at Sage, who was climbing towards them.
Cye and Rowan grinned. "Chasing Sage is a nightmare," Rowan smirked.
"Lady Kayura, do you think that if we could trap Talpa into giving too much control back to Anubis, he might be able to snap out of this?" Ryo looked at her seriously.
"I don't know for certain, Ryo," she sighed. "I don't know how strong Talpa's hold is. I'd say it's worth a try…"
"Sage! Stop messing with those chains and get up here!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kento blinked sweat out of his eyes, and puffed in annoyance. "Dammit, stand still!" He lunged yet again at his adversary, swinging wildly. Yet again, Anubis dodged. "Ack," Kento began to grouse, but realized that he'd left himself wide open for one of the Warlord's powerful attacks and nothing had happened. It was as if—he didn't really want to fight. "Hey…"
Anubis' eyes narrowed as Kento faltered in his assault. "What's the matter, little Ronin? Lost your will to fight?" The golden emblem on his chestplate began to glow again, and Kento backed up quickly. The scythe snapped up, ready to deliver a powerful blow.
"Think again, Anubis!"
The Warlord froze, with an angry snarl. The eyes blazed in a sidelong glance at the newcomer, who sailed in from above, sword raised, clinging to a broken length of chain. "Halo, you're dead."
"Not unless you can catch me," the green armored Ronin cried flippantly. Silver eyes flashed as he sailed over the Warlord's head and landed on top of the outcropping. "Thunder Bolt Cut!"
Kento dove to the ground as he saw Anubis' eyes widen. The crackle of electricity passing just over his head made his hair stand on end and his armor hum in sympathy. Strangely, Anubis seemed frozen in place.
The emblem on Anubis' armor flickered and faded once again, and with a frustrated hiss, the warlord darted backwards and to the side, barely avoiding the blast. He landed catlike on his feet, but staggered as the glow flared back to life. Growling, he stormed forward towards Sage, swinging his chain rapidly.
Sage waited until the last possible moment, as the spiked end of the chain launched forth, and then nimbly leaped over the Warlord's head. Anubis drew back the weapon with an angry flick of his wrist, and turned a glare on Sage. "Dammit, stand still," he growled, echoing Kento's earlier complaint.
"Huh- uh," the spry blond Ronin replied, scampering up into the maze of chains. "You want me, come and get me!"
For a moment, he was afraid that his challenge would go unanswered, that the infuriated Warlord would simply start after Kento again. After a moment of hesitation, however, Anubis started clambering up the web of chains after him.
Sage at first found it simple to avoid the clumsy movements of the Warlord. He noted the glowing carvings on Anubis' armor, realizing that Talpa was still very much in control of his minion. He began to taunt, desperate to get the Warlord to chase him more effectively, because that would require Talpa to relax his control.
Glittering eyes looked up at him. Anubis was immediately below him, an easy leap away if he had been more himself, but an impossible distance for Talpa. "Hah," Sage crowed, ignoring the worried little tremor in the back of his mind that told him to get farther away. "You've really lost your touch, Warlord."
The green eyes flashed angrily. "You won't be so glib once I catch you, Halo," the Warlord gritted.
"If you catch me," Sage shot back. He ducked behind a chain as the clawed head of Anubis' kusari-gama snapped out towards him, but the effort was unnecessary. The sharp movement unsettled the Warlord's precarious balance, one foot slipped off the chain and he fell towards the ground—until the glow faded once more and the clawed weight wrapped around the nearest support with a practiced flick of Anubis' wrist. The fall halted, and the Warlord landed easily on one of the lower chains.
Sage gulped and hung on to his chain for dear life as the entire web shook. To his relief, however, the close call seemed to have taught Talpa not to interfere while his minion was fighting. The sheen on the armor was low as Anubis darted easily back up towards him.
Of course, this meant that Anubis might actually catch him… Sage gulped again and set about dashing madly through the maze of chains, hoping that the Warlord would come to his senses before he either A: caught Sage, or B: tired of the chase and went after one of the others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryo watched from below as Anubis chased Sage relentlessly through the web of steel, the two evenly matched in agility. He noticed the glow fading from Anubis' armor, as Talpa's influence weakened. "Do you think this might actually work?" he whispered to Kayura, as she was helped down from the chains by Kento.
"I don't know," she whispered back. "It would help if we could get him to lose the helm—traditionally, that has been the focus for Talpa's control, and at least we could see his face."
"I could go break it again," Kento volunteered cheerfully.
Rowan thumped him lightly on the head. "You do that, if he ever gets close enough." Kento shrugged, sighing.
Dais touched his own unprotected brow, wincing slightly. "Kento has a point. Perhaps we should devise an ambush while he's distracted by Sage."
Cale, joining them, grimaced humorously. "Oh Dais, you know you just want to hold him down while someone else hits him."
"And your point is…?" Dais replied, half-seriously.
"So what are we going to do, guys," Cye interrupted, his light eyes worried as he watched the skirmish above. "Sage is getting tired."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~