Chapter Twelve - The Battle of Venom
"You think he knows we're here?" Ryo asked in a whisper.
"Undoubtedly," Anubis replied. Ryo stood up from crouching behind a bush and walked into the open plain. Anubis soon followed, neither showing the slightest glint of fear.
The green and brown armor of Sekhmet standing triumphantly centered in the grassy plain. "I knew you would," his slithery voice echoed.
"Then I guess you know what we have to do as well," Ryo stated just as ominously.
The Warlord of Venom turned slowly, his eyes glowing gold through his helmet. "Yes, I do know, but do you think you can possibly achieve it?"
Ryo looked to Anubis, who obviously wanted to say his own words as the rattling staff signaled his presence. "Allow me to ask you one thing, my former comrade. When Talpa was defeated for that second time, I was to be sure that the remaining Ronin armors were to be held by Warlords with a pure heart. I was certain that after all the treachery that has been plagued upon you, you would realize Talpa's path is his own and you only serve as a pawn on it. What makes you his champion again?"
Sekhmet was quiet, the golden glimmer of his eyes seemed to spark, and then in a sudden outburst, Sekhmet clasped the sides of his helmet and fell to his knees screaming in agony. The screams turned to deep echoes as they were not his own, but of all the spirits that possessed him. Through the tortured yells, a single recognizable voice could be heard. "Kill me!" it cried. "Kill me now!"
Both Ryo and Anubis took steps back at this horrifying scene. "He- he's still alive in there..." Ryo stated weakly.
"Dynasty spirits. They possess his armor, and in it they control his emotions. He must have been in this tortured state for weeks. It is unfathomable that he could possibly survive under such duress for so long."
Ryo looked at the ailing warlord then back to Anubis. "We can't just kill him! He's still alive!"
As Ryo spoke, the wailing souls ceased as they began to regain control of the body. It took them a moment to realize what had happened. A single heart of piety had overcome hundreds of spirits; this put their control on odd footing. Ryo and Anubis weren't in any better condition to take advantage of the situation, as they were equally shocked. Immediately without a stable plan in mind, Sekhmet drew two venomous swords and charged his two opponents who barely managed to dodge their strike.
"To arms!" Anubis cried out as he threw his staff into the air, the Helmet of Cruelty returned in its place. Quickly placing it on, the entire Armor of Cruelty was resurrected once more.
Anubis's red hair jerked violently as he turned his head to Ryo. Ryo looked back out of the corner of his eye and smirked with an almost evil glare. "Armor of Wildfire! Ta-o J-in!" The silk rolls unraveled and burst into sakura blossoms. Within an instant Ryo was prepared for battle. He drew his twin katanas and his eyes were burning with fire.
Anubis tossed his kusari-gama directly at Sekhmet who leapt into the air defensively to meet with Ryo's blades in a midair sword fight. The swords came ever so close to one another, but their skill was matched. They landed apart and the Demon of Venom was about to charge, but leapt back as a chain emerged from the ground, heading straight for his jaw. As he leapt back he immediately had to turn to his side as to dodge the twin strike of the swords of Wildfire. As he dodged that, he was met with an uncomfortable feeling as the scythe end of Anubis's weapon thrashed.
Sekhmet instantaneously turned, delivering a fierce backhand to Anubis that landed with more force than it should have. A large gash formed down the side of the monk's face, and as Sekhmet turned to complete the spilling of blood, he was bull-rushed a running ball of fire and taken to the ground forcefully. Ryo knelt atop of his opponent and forcefully delivered pounding blows to the facemask, but was monkey-flipped overhead as he skidded on the landside.
The green clad warrior instantly stood up and to his chagrin, he found his body in random sediments of pain. The only explanation for it was the cry- "Quake With Fe-ar!"
With chains binding him, Anubis and Wildfire stood before him. It seemed they were about ready to speak with him, but before even one of them could gather a thought Sekhmet cried out. "Save your breath! You will need it for your journey into hell!" and with that, snapped the chains as if they were merely weak strings. Landing on his feet, he directly engaged in a sword fight of irrevocable proportions with Ryo, who seemed to be barely matching pace for pace with the amplified strength of the Demon Warlord.
Ryo was bringing up a cross slash with his sword towards the breastplate of his foe but his hand was shocked with the bluntness of the very sword being knocked out of his hand. Sekhmet cackled at the blade landed into the ground, but Ryo didn't let that phase him as he finished the move empty handed delivering a fierce punch to the long jaw.
The Warlord stumbled back in surprise at the force and dropped one of his swords in surprise and put the hand to comfort his jaw. "You... you'll pay for that!" he bellowed, drawing another sword. With one sword in hand Ryo at once charged and with a simultaneous blow, both the Sword of Wildfire and the Sword of Venom flew from their possessor's hands puncturing the earth. From there, Ryo let loose with a fury of lefts and rights to Sekhmet. Fire burning in his eyes, Ryo barely let Sekhmet manage a defense.
Anubis stood alone with scythe in one hand and chain in the other watching Ryo punch away at the Warlord. "His heart is filled with anger. This is dangerous..."
Ryo was still throwing fierce cross after cross until he couldn't move his arms anymore, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't move his arms, for they were bound with chains. "What... what is this?!" he breathed heavily. Sekhmet stumbled to the ground with blood leaking from his cracked facemask. One of the ornamental fangs was missing from the mouth guard and the guard for the jaw was utterly shattered.
"That's enough, Wildfire!" Anubis's voice called out.
"Anubis, you traitor! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ryo hollered, trying to break his bonds.
"This is too much, do you not remember your power? It is Virtue. You were acting as if possessed by a demon!" Anubis explained, trying to hide his astonishment.
Sekhmet watched his former leader as he stepped closer to Ryo, inching towards his fallen swords. Collecting them silently, he listened to the argument of his opponents and as soon as he had all his blades collected he immediately put them to use... "Snake Fang Stri-ke!"
Venomous lightening shot towards Anubis, catapulting him quite a distance. Sekhmet got to his feet once more and started to laugh deviously as he approached Ryo, bound by his ally's chains. "You fought like me for a moment, Wildfire. I can almost respect that. I could tell you how much your armor is asking to return to the Dynasty, but I have something I need to give you first." And with that, a sinister smile came across his face. Quicker than an instant, the Warlord of Venom was laying lefts and rights into a helpless Ryo of Wildfire. Many to the unguarded face, some to the ribs and abs.
Sekhmet had successfully repaid Ryo and then some. Ryo fell to the ground a heaping bloody mess, his armor tarnished and cracked, blood leaking from every outlet. Sekhmet prodded the lifeless body for a moment and Ryo seemed dead without question. The assailant let a quick huff as he smiled triumphantly.
He turned to look for Anubis but as soon as he turned his head he was met with the grapple end of the kusari-gama right in the stomach. Red light emanated from the chain and was blazing Sekhmet in searing hot pain. "You will not win this battle, demon!" Anubis cried out in anguish.
Sekhmet slowly readied his head as his eyes began to glow their evil glow again. His movement was extremely hindered but he was still managing. His hands were reaching up to grab the chain. "You old... deadened fool... I have already... won!" and clasped forcefully down on the chain. Light bluish energy emanated from his hands and shot up the chain directly into Anubis. Anubis shot up in tremendous pain but he refused to let go of his hold on his opponent.
"Even if... I die in the battle... I know victory... will not be yours," Anubis ached.
"Very boastful words... for a monk... that has already died once..." Sekhmet retorted.
"I know what... death is like... So I fear not the return... but do you?" Anubis said and with a tortured yell, he increased his power output.
Sekhmet seemed to be taken aback at the effort Anubis was showing, not to mention the added pain he was to feel. "You will die, traitor!" Sekhmet bellowed as he intensified his power as well.
"No one dies unless I kill them!" a voice called out right next to the Warlord's helmet. His arms were suddenly bound behind him and he could no longer hold his beam against Anubis's chain.
"Wildfire?! You yet live?!" the Demon of Venom asked in shock.
"I told you! No one dies unless I kill them, and you're at the top of my list, snake boy!" Ryo heaved. He was still a weakened bloody mess, but adrenaline seemed to hold him together.
"You shall die first, Wildfire!" And with one final effort, Sekhmet started to release all the energy from his body. It was agonizing to the both of them, but Ryo refused to let go, but Sekhmet also refused to halt his energy. "This is it! Snake Fang Stri-ke!"
"Quake With Fe-ar!"
"Flare Up No-w!"
In a mix of light, the stupendous explosion engulfed the entire area reducing it to a cinder. Rocks and trees, pieces of the ground flew into the sky landing miles away from the force of the explosion. Steam and smoke rose from the scorched earth as three bodies lay on the ground in sub armor. Each armor was equally burned and tarnished and each of the wearer's were barely conscious.
"...ooohhh..." Anubis sorely managed to spout.
"Hey... you all right?" another voice grunted.
Anubis picked up his head to find Ryo standing over him with a hand to his shoulder. "That was a very dangerous undertaking you attempted, Wildfire," Anubis scolded as every muscle felt the pain as he spoke.
Ryo just chuckled a little and slumped into a sitting position when he noticed Anubis was in no hurry to unbury himself from the upturned earth. "To be honest, I really thought I was going to kick it that time, but... heh, here I am."
Anubis smiled lightly as he turned over cracking the black dirt that buried his lower half. "That only proves the point further that the Ronins truly are a remarkable fighting force, even when there is only one," he replied.
Ryo laughed before responding. "Well, I can't take all the credit, you were amazing in your own right."
Anubis sat up carefully as the rubble fell from his sub armor and he sat Indian-style in front of Ryo, putting a hand to his sore shoulder. "Please do not bother to flatter me. I have only begun to repay my debt to you and the rest of the world after causing so much destruction for so long," he remarked, bowing his head slightly.
Ryo looked at him with his head tilted to the side. He wiped his nose and the rest of his face of the blood and tightened the red headband that had become ragged and dirty but somehow still remained.
"It is just a shame we had to sacrifice a life for the common good. But I suppose that is what must be done," the bowing monk went on.
Ryo seemed a little confused at the moment. "Who died?" he asked with anxiety.
Anubis looked up him slowly, then raised his head entirely. "You mean...?" At that Ryo chuckled twice and pointed his thumb over to the edge of ground zero where the former Warlord knelt washing his face in a deterred stream of water. Anubis looked back at Ryo with more shock then comprehension. "I thought you said you were going to..."
Ryo cut Anubis off mid-sentence. "I wasn't going to kill him; it wasn't his fault, after all, it was those demented spirits that did this to him. I only said I was gonna destroy him to scare the hell out of those cowardly ghouls. They'll leave a body as soon as they think it may have the slightest chance of dying."
Anubis's eyes were as wide as Ryo had ever seen them before; his lips curled into a smile as he started to laugh inside, shaking his head from side to side; he threw his arms back ignoring the sting and laughed at the golden sky. Ryo watched all this in confusion, but he smiled too. He never saw Anubis laugh like this, and it really made Ryo feel good that he possibly brought joy to this tortured soul. "Oh, Wildfire, I have always underestimated you as an enemy and as a friend. Even if your reasons were selfish, there is no one better to wear the armor."
"Underestimation is truly a mistake on all accounts. I still must thank you for sparing my life."
Both Ryo and Anubis turned their heads and saw Sekhmet propping himself up with a branch. Anubis got to his feet shakily and looked right into Sekhmet's beady eyes. He smiled quickly, then embraced him warmly. Sekhmet still had one hand on his makeshift crutch but wrapped his other arm around his friend. "Welcome back, my brother," Anubis said heartily. "It's been too long, my friend... far too long."
"You think he knows we're here?" Ryo asked in a whisper.
"Undoubtedly," Anubis replied. Ryo stood up from crouching behind a bush and walked into the open plain. Anubis soon followed, neither showing the slightest glint of fear.
The green and brown armor of Sekhmet standing triumphantly centered in the grassy plain. "I knew you would," his slithery voice echoed.
"Then I guess you know what we have to do as well," Ryo stated just as ominously.
The Warlord of Venom turned slowly, his eyes glowing gold through his helmet. "Yes, I do know, but do you think you can possibly achieve it?"
Ryo looked to Anubis, who obviously wanted to say his own words as the rattling staff signaled his presence. "Allow me to ask you one thing, my former comrade. When Talpa was defeated for that second time, I was to be sure that the remaining Ronin armors were to be held by Warlords with a pure heart. I was certain that after all the treachery that has been plagued upon you, you would realize Talpa's path is his own and you only serve as a pawn on it. What makes you his champion again?"
Sekhmet was quiet, the golden glimmer of his eyes seemed to spark, and then in a sudden outburst, Sekhmet clasped the sides of his helmet and fell to his knees screaming in agony. The screams turned to deep echoes as they were not his own, but of all the spirits that possessed him. Through the tortured yells, a single recognizable voice could be heard. "Kill me!" it cried. "Kill me now!"
Both Ryo and Anubis took steps back at this horrifying scene. "He- he's still alive in there..." Ryo stated weakly.
"Dynasty spirits. They possess his armor, and in it they control his emotions. He must have been in this tortured state for weeks. It is unfathomable that he could possibly survive under such duress for so long."
Ryo looked at the ailing warlord then back to Anubis. "We can't just kill him! He's still alive!"
As Ryo spoke, the wailing souls ceased as they began to regain control of the body. It took them a moment to realize what had happened. A single heart of piety had overcome hundreds of spirits; this put their control on odd footing. Ryo and Anubis weren't in any better condition to take advantage of the situation, as they were equally shocked. Immediately without a stable plan in mind, Sekhmet drew two venomous swords and charged his two opponents who barely managed to dodge their strike.
"To arms!" Anubis cried out as he threw his staff into the air, the Helmet of Cruelty returned in its place. Quickly placing it on, the entire Armor of Cruelty was resurrected once more.
Anubis's red hair jerked violently as he turned his head to Ryo. Ryo looked back out of the corner of his eye and smirked with an almost evil glare. "Armor of Wildfire! Ta-o J-in!" The silk rolls unraveled and burst into sakura blossoms. Within an instant Ryo was prepared for battle. He drew his twin katanas and his eyes were burning with fire.
Anubis tossed his kusari-gama directly at Sekhmet who leapt into the air defensively to meet with Ryo's blades in a midair sword fight. The swords came ever so close to one another, but their skill was matched. They landed apart and the Demon of Venom was about to charge, but leapt back as a chain emerged from the ground, heading straight for his jaw. As he leapt back he immediately had to turn to his side as to dodge the twin strike of the swords of Wildfire. As he dodged that, he was met with an uncomfortable feeling as the scythe end of Anubis's weapon thrashed.
Sekhmet instantaneously turned, delivering a fierce backhand to Anubis that landed with more force than it should have. A large gash formed down the side of the monk's face, and as Sekhmet turned to complete the spilling of blood, he was bull-rushed a running ball of fire and taken to the ground forcefully. Ryo knelt atop of his opponent and forcefully delivered pounding blows to the facemask, but was monkey-flipped overhead as he skidded on the landside.
The green clad warrior instantly stood up and to his chagrin, he found his body in random sediments of pain. The only explanation for it was the cry- "Quake With Fe-ar!"
With chains binding him, Anubis and Wildfire stood before him. It seemed they were about ready to speak with him, but before even one of them could gather a thought Sekhmet cried out. "Save your breath! You will need it for your journey into hell!" and with that, snapped the chains as if they were merely weak strings. Landing on his feet, he directly engaged in a sword fight of irrevocable proportions with Ryo, who seemed to be barely matching pace for pace with the amplified strength of the Demon Warlord.
Ryo was bringing up a cross slash with his sword towards the breastplate of his foe but his hand was shocked with the bluntness of the very sword being knocked out of his hand. Sekhmet cackled at the blade landed into the ground, but Ryo didn't let that phase him as he finished the move empty handed delivering a fierce punch to the long jaw.
The Warlord stumbled back in surprise at the force and dropped one of his swords in surprise and put the hand to comfort his jaw. "You... you'll pay for that!" he bellowed, drawing another sword. With one sword in hand Ryo at once charged and with a simultaneous blow, both the Sword of Wildfire and the Sword of Venom flew from their possessor's hands puncturing the earth. From there, Ryo let loose with a fury of lefts and rights to Sekhmet. Fire burning in his eyes, Ryo barely let Sekhmet manage a defense.
Anubis stood alone with scythe in one hand and chain in the other watching Ryo punch away at the Warlord. "His heart is filled with anger. This is dangerous..."
Ryo was still throwing fierce cross after cross until he couldn't move his arms anymore, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't move his arms, for they were bound with chains. "What... what is this?!" he breathed heavily. Sekhmet stumbled to the ground with blood leaking from his cracked facemask. One of the ornamental fangs was missing from the mouth guard and the guard for the jaw was utterly shattered.
"That's enough, Wildfire!" Anubis's voice called out.
"Anubis, you traitor! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ryo hollered, trying to break his bonds.
"This is too much, do you not remember your power? It is Virtue. You were acting as if possessed by a demon!" Anubis explained, trying to hide his astonishment.
Sekhmet watched his former leader as he stepped closer to Ryo, inching towards his fallen swords. Collecting them silently, he listened to the argument of his opponents and as soon as he had all his blades collected he immediately put them to use... "Snake Fang Stri-ke!"
Venomous lightening shot towards Anubis, catapulting him quite a distance. Sekhmet got to his feet once more and started to laugh deviously as he approached Ryo, bound by his ally's chains. "You fought like me for a moment, Wildfire. I can almost respect that. I could tell you how much your armor is asking to return to the Dynasty, but I have something I need to give you first." And with that, a sinister smile came across his face. Quicker than an instant, the Warlord of Venom was laying lefts and rights into a helpless Ryo of Wildfire. Many to the unguarded face, some to the ribs and abs.
Sekhmet had successfully repaid Ryo and then some. Ryo fell to the ground a heaping bloody mess, his armor tarnished and cracked, blood leaking from every outlet. Sekhmet prodded the lifeless body for a moment and Ryo seemed dead without question. The assailant let a quick huff as he smiled triumphantly.
He turned to look for Anubis but as soon as he turned his head he was met with the grapple end of the kusari-gama right in the stomach. Red light emanated from the chain and was blazing Sekhmet in searing hot pain. "You will not win this battle, demon!" Anubis cried out in anguish.
Sekhmet slowly readied his head as his eyes began to glow their evil glow again. His movement was extremely hindered but he was still managing. His hands were reaching up to grab the chain. "You old... deadened fool... I have already... won!" and clasped forcefully down on the chain. Light bluish energy emanated from his hands and shot up the chain directly into Anubis. Anubis shot up in tremendous pain but he refused to let go of his hold on his opponent.
"Even if... I die in the battle... I know victory... will not be yours," Anubis ached.
"Very boastful words... for a monk... that has already died once..." Sekhmet retorted.
"I know what... death is like... So I fear not the return... but do you?" Anubis said and with a tortured yell, he increased his power output.
Sekhmet seemed to be taken aback at the effort Anubis was showing, not to mention the added pain he was to feel. "You will die, traitor!" Sekhmet bellowed as he intensified his power as well.
"No one dies unless I kill them!" a voice called out right next to the Warlord's helmet. His arms were suddenly bound behind him and he could no longer hold his beam against Anubis's chain.
"Wildfire?! You yet live?!" the Demon of Venom asked in shock.
"I told you! No one dies unless I kill them, and you're at the top of my list, snake boy!" Ryo heaved. He was still a weakened bloody mess, but adrenaline seemed to hold him together.
"You shall die first, Wildfire!" And with one final effort, Sekhmet started to release all the energy from his body. It was agonizing to the both of them, but Ryo refused to let go, but Sekhmet also refused to halt his energy. "This is it! Snake Fang Stri-ke!"
"Quake With Fe-ar!"
"Flare Up No-w!"
In a mix of light, the stupendous explosion engulfed the entire area reducing it to a cinder. Rocks and trees, pieces of the ground flew into the sky landing miles away from the force of the explosion. Steam and smoke rose from the scorched earth as three bodies lay on the ground in sub armor. Each armor was equally burned and tarnished and each of the wearer's were barely conscious.
"...ooohhh..." Anubis sorely managed to spout.
"Hey... you all right?" another voice grunted.
Anubis picked up his head to find Ryo standing over him with a hand to his shoulder. "That was a very dangerous undertaking you attempted, Wildfire," Anubis scolded as every muscle felt the pain as he spoke.
Ryo just chuckled a little and slumped into a sitting position when he noticed Anubis was in no hurry to unbury himself from the upturned earth. "To be honest, I really thought I was going to kick it that time, but... heh, here I am."
Anubis smiled lightly as he turned over cracking the black dirt that buried his lower half. "That only proves the point further that the Ronins truly are a remarkable fighting force, even when there is only one," he replied.
Ryo laughed before responding. "Well, I can't take all the credit, you were amazing in your own right."
Anubis sat up carefully as the rubble fell from his sub armor and he sat Indian-style in front of Ryo, putting a hand to his sore shoulder. "Please do not bother to flatter me. I have only begun to repay my debt to you and the rest of the world after causing so much destruction for so long," he remarked, bowing his head slightly.
Ryo looked at him with his head tilted to the side. He wiped his nose and the rest of his face of the blood and tightened the red headband that had become ragged and dirty but somehow still remained.
"It is just a shame we had to sacrifice a life for the common good. But I suppose that is what must be done," the bowing monk went on.
Ryo seemed a little confused at the moment. "Who died?" he asked with anxiety.
Anubis looked up him slowly, then raised his head entirely. "You mean...?" At that Ryo chuckled twice and pointed his thumb over to the edge of ground zero where the former Warlord knelt washing his face in a deterred stream of water. Anubis looked back at Ryo with more shock then comprehension. "I thought you said you were going to..."
Ryo cut Anubis off mid-sentence. "I wasn't going to kill him; it wasn't his fault, after all, it was those demented spirits that did this to him. I only said I was gonna destroy him to scare the hell out of those cowardly ghouls. They'll leave a body as soon as they think it may have the slightest chance of dying."
Anubis's eyes were as wide as Ryo had ever seen them before; his lips curled into a smile as he started to laugh inside, shaking his head from side to side; he threw his arms back ignoring the sting and laughed at the golden sky. Ryo watched all this in confusion, but he smiled too. He never saw Anubis laugh like this, and it really made Ryo feel good that he possibly brought joy to this tortured soul. "Oh, Wildfire, I have always underestimated you as an enemy and as a friend. Even if your reasons were selfish, there is no one better to wear the armor."
"Underestimation is truly a mistake on all accounts. I still must thank you for sparing my life."
Both Ryo and Anubis turned their heads and saw Sekhmet propping himself up with a branch. Anubis got to his feet shakily and looked right into Sekhmet's beady eyes. He smiled quickly, then embraced him warmly. Sekhmet still had one hand on his makeshift crutch but wrapped his other arm around his friend. "Welcome back, my brother," Anubis said heartily. "It's been too long, my friend... far too long."
