Previously on Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED…
The author looked back and forth between Alex and Sion, who were by now staring at him, expecting for pleasant answers. He let out a sigh and smiled. "Because a warrior's existence is to protect the people, and… since Alex lost the one he wanted to protect and love, he will be baffled in this world without someone to guide and support him. And since Miss Sion is already his acquaintance, well, you know what to do when you've got friends. Right?"
x-x
"I think you've got it wrong." Alex stared at Sion in intrigue, asking for explanation from the young woman. "You always say that you can no longer protect the people, but the Gears children you mentioned survived the soldiers' invasion. Don't you realize that it's the proof that you're still needed these days?"
"But Miss Sion, I could no longer protect the Gears from…"
"That's a lie!" Sion cried. "If the children you saved were still alive today, they would be sad to see you unable to fulfill your promise. If the Gears you cared of were still living, they would be sad to see you like this, unable to protect those who still live. And Hikaru… do you want to see her crying because you're unable to defend anyone? Do you?"
"Miss Sion…"
"Fine. If you insist to, why don't you take care of me instead?"
x-x-x-x-x
Guilty Gear
Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED
Written and conceived by: Lone Wolf NEO
Lone Wolf NEO does not own any of all the games or anime or manga featured in this story, but he owns the copyright to all his original ideas in this fiction. The author would really appreciate if readers do not plagiaries everything inside this story without his knowledge.
Chronological Note: Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED takes place scarcely half a year after Guilty Gear versus SNK 2: Battle Revolution, and currently runs roughly in parallel with Guilty Gear: The World Within and Without written and owned by Sheo Darren. Featured music is Bloodstained Lineage, Testament's theme from Guilty Gear XX, and Stayin' Alive sung by the Bee Gees.
Chapter 19
The Last Blade: Tale of A Swordsman
"The philosophy behind not only Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu but any swordsmanship is to protect people with the sword. Every time the sword is withdrawn from its sheath, life and death of the person who yeilds the blade depend on how deep the people believe in him. Very often the warrior fails in achieving the ultimate goal of swordsmanship because he neglects the code of honour taught by masters and gurus over ages. Either he dies, or continues living in an endless dishonour. This is the very code applicable to all warriors around the world, whether he is practicing the path of Bushido or the code of the sacred orders."
Some times ago, at the very same place where Hiko now resides, the ex-hitokiri Battousai in legend Himura Kenshin (better known for his "Oro?" trademark quote) defied the odds when he successfully pulled out the final battle secret of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki and counterattacked his mentor Seijuro Hiko's Kuzuryuusen in the most melodramatic duel to happen in the history of teacher-student relationship. Having won the dramatic duel, Kenshin acquired himself the title the inheritor of the Hiten Mitsurugi's philosophy and not the title Seijuro Hiko the 14th as the 13th guru insisted to. Now living peacefully with his family, Kenshin had a very little idea that the history was about to repeat itself in the same place at the same time. This time, a rebel unit of the PWAB claiming himself as "the one and only Robo-Ky" was about to prove himself worthy of inheriting the philosophy and pride of the Hiten Mitsurugi warrior.
The morning was peaceful and silent, as birds were chirping in greeting the arrival of Mother Nature. Cool wind was breezing through the dense woods and bushes, rustling leaves and branches standing on its path and soothing every heart that felt its presence. The critters of the wood were returning from their pleasant slumber, ready to perform their daily routines. It was if the day would be just peaceful and easy-going for most of the living creatures.
Not for these two people.
Both Hiko and Robo-Ky stood at the same place from yesterday, facing each other in a seemingly eternity stance. Sumomo and the two ninja girls of the Leaf Village were staring at the swordsmen in wonder, curious about what they were going to do.
"You were not sleeping, I can tell," Hiko commented. His eyes were blackened on their edge, a result from a sleepless night.
"Same goes to you, sensei," Robo-Ky reminded. His green eyes were fading out due to lack of sleep.
The two figures were staring at each other before shrugged and proceeded to wash their face. The two women and the mini Persocon watched at them in confusion, with the latter commenting about their unusual behaviour. After a quick self-hygiene, both returned to the open field.
"Have you figured it out?" Hiko asked.
"What is it?" Robo-Ky replied.
"The reason of why you should risk yourself in performing Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki," the swordsman-in-legend spoke in a low tone.
"I… I haven't even thought of it along last night," Robo-Ky answered, frowning unhappily. "Gomen."
Hiko just breathed out and reached the clip of his cape. "Naruhodo. Then I shall use the same method I used against that stupid apprentice," he uttered and dropped the cape on the ground. At the moment, Robo-Ky and the spectators were caught in a complete shock when they see the true appearance of Hiko. Never in their whole life, they would expect that the guru would be looking both frightening and fascinating. They noticed him lifting the nihontou and suddenly, the ground before him was hacked in a single swing. The women were knocked off their standing spot due to a strong gust coming from the movement. Robo-Ky managed to hold back and watched in fear, as the 13th Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu master stepped over the crevasse and approached him in a slow, menacing pace.
"Is this… is this what human call fear?" the robot whispered and clenched his shivering fists. He gulped in terror when he stared at Hiko, by now glowering at him with the eyes of shinigami. He never thought that he would be facing a certain God of Death, whose blade can claim a soul without even touching it. "No… I must not be afraid… I must not be intimidated by his threatening glare…! A Hiten Mitsurugi warrior must not be afraid of everything!"
"Shine." Die.
(background music: Bloodstained Lineage, from Guilty Gear XX)
A blinding flash lit the area, as Hiko unleashed Kuzuryuusen and aimed at Robo-Ky. Robo-Ky was caught in a complete shock; the Kuzuryuusen he was facing was much more powerful and possessed a frightening sense of death than the one he had encountered the previous day. He was in total paralyze that his battle software was unable to calculate or execute a counterattack move. Is this the end of his journey as a swordsman?
"Waaaa!!! Robo-Ky!!!"
"Robo-san!!!"
"Robo-san, mite!!!"
x-x
"Ne, Robo-san," Hibiki called as the two of them were having a break from their training. Robo-Ky who was playing with Sumomo glanced at the Takane girl in wonder. "What are you going to do once this training is done?"
"I HAVE NO IDEA, HIBIKI. MAYBE BECOMING A WANDERER OR A FULL-FLEDGED SWORDSMAN, WHO KNOWS," Robo-Ky answered and pulled out the modified Thunderseal nihontou. "AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO ONCE I END THIS SWORDSMANSHIP TRAINING."
Hibiki giggled. "Sonna. You must have something in your mind, at least," she uttered.
"I SWEAR, I DON'T KNOW." Then he frowned, clenching both his fists. "I JUST DON'T KNOW THE PURPOSE OF MY… EXISTENCE."
"Souka." The woman continued to drink Darjeeling tea, while Robo-Ky examined the nihontou. "Robo-san," she called him, "have you ever thought of lifting your sword for the people?" The question raised Robo-Ky's curiosity to the highest level. He stared at the woman, whose innocent eyes were staring back at him in hope of hearing an honest answer from the self-acclaimed PWAB unit.
"I NEVER THOUGHT OF DOING SO," Robo-Ky spoke. "ALL I EVER THINK AND CARE OF IS FIGHTING FOR MYSELF AND SUMOMO."
"For Sumomo-san? Honto? In that case, I think you already have a reason of lifting your sword: you have Sumomo-san to protect. Even she knows that you're protecting her." Robo-Ky blinked in surprise and looked at Sumomo, by now was climbing up to his shoulder. "She may not show it, but she feels safe when you're around."
"YOU… YOU THINK SO, HIBIKI?" the robot asked.
Hibiki giggled again. "Why don't you ask Sumomo-san?"
Robo-Ky glanced at Sumomo. "AIIIIII! I have no reason to be afraid! It's because Robo-Ky has already become the greatest swordsman of all! AIIIIII! And I, Sumomo, will be safe and sound as long as Robo-Ky is strong! AIIIIII!" enthusiastically she squealed and danced on Robo-Ky's shoulder. Both Robo-Ky and Hibiki laughed at the mobile PC's cheerful, if not sometimes cutely annoying and noisy, personality.
"I… I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT, HIBIKI," Robo-Ky answered, a faint grin carved upon his face.
x-x
"Robo-san, are you sure you have to go?" Hibiki sadly asked. "You can still stay and spend more times with us."
Robo-Ky breathed out and looked at each of the people. "SINCE MY TASK AT KIEV HAS COME TO END, I GUESS I HAVE TO START A JOURNEY. WHERE TO GO, IT DEPENDS ON WHERE MY FEET WILL LEAD."
"We'll be missing you a lot, Robo-Ky," Zero told him. "You're the best ally we ever had. We owed you for everything."
"OH, NO," Robo-Ky generously replied, scratching the back of his head. "I WAS JUST DOING MY DUTY AS A SWORDSMAN. ALL THANKS MUST GO TO HIBIKI-SENSEI. SHE WAS THE ONE WHO TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING."
Hibiki blushed and silently smiled. "Iie, Robo-san was my most special apprentice. He's the one who should get the most credits, not me," she responded, shyly running her finger through her hair. Lone Wolf NEO jokingly teased her by saying that she was admiring the robot before the young woman squealed in dismay and bopped his head with a fan. "Lone Wolfie-chan, stop comparing me with Robo-san! Onegai!"
"Waaa! Hibiki-chan hidoi…!" Lone Wolf wailed, rubbing his whacked head. The rest of the people laughed as the author helplessly tried to apology at Hibiki who was trying to smack his head with the fan. Elde just chuckled to see the playfulness of the couple before approached Robo-Ky.
"We will meet again when our path crosses, Robo-Ky," he spoke, offering a handshake.
Robo-Ky grinned and shook his hand in gratitude. "WE WILL, WANDERER. WE WILL."
x-x
"Robo-Ky #R, you are destined to lead your people to the righteous path of your existence."
"OUR… EXISTENCE…?"
"You exist not because you are a robot. You exist because you have a soul, and every living being owns a soul."
"WORD UNRECOGNIZABLE. UNABLE TO APPREHEND YOUR SPEECH, PROFESSOR."
"I know. You understand absolutely nothing at this moment, because you were just brought to this world and had no past experiences. Have no worry, Robo-Ky #R. As time goes by, you will get to learn and understand everything happening inside of you. Including your soul."
"I… I DO NOT UNDERSTAND."
"You will understand, Robo-Ky #R. You will. And once you understand everything, you will know why your people need a person like you to guide them."
x-x
The green eyes widened. Robo-Ky felt his tears (or rather, machine oil) flowing down his metallic cheek and dripping his garb. He had returned from a moment of remembrance and looked forward, where Hiko was already close to him by an inch. The Kuzuryuusen was about to strike him with its destructive force, and it was too late to run or block. "I… I CANNOT DIE! THERE ARE STILL THINGS I MUST ACCOMPLISH!!!!" The self-acclaimed PWAB warrior emitted a battle cry and went into a lowered battou stance. He reached the hilt of Thunderseal, screamed from the bottom of his heart, and…
"HITEN MITSURUGI RYUU FINAL BATTLE SECRET!!!!!"
x-x-x-x-x
To monitor the movement and progress of all fighters around the globe, the founded Post-War Administrative Bureau established an investigation team to pick up a possible candidate for their so-called replicated soldiers. After carefully choosing and filtering the lists, it was decided that the ex-Holy Order commander and the International Police Force captain, Ky Kiske, would be chosen as the basis for the replicated soldiers for the bureau's operation. Codenamed "Robo-Ky", these robotic warriors constructed using the best technology the era would offer, was immediately deployed into service as soon as its first production line was available. However, the first batch of the Robo-Ky was poorly assembled and monitored due to lack of financial source that most of them suffered from short-span operational status, gyroscopic failure, and for most of the time causing troubles worldwide whereas the bureau's intention was merely to investigate and monitor the people.
Then the appointed chief of the PWAB, currently the chairperson of the bureau's advisory council, ordered the developing of the second batch of Robo-Ky unit. Classified as Mark II, these new generation of Robo-Ky would have the capalibity of copying opponents' move and using the attack(s) against them. These new batch of Robo-Ky proved to be more effective than the previous instalment of Robo-Ky, and Mark II was immediately put into service, replacing all the old Robo-Ky units. These robots were not without errors; they had been reported to frequently overheat while performing certain tasks, forcing them to cool their mechanical body system. There were also reports of the new units to suffer from electrical overload, where these robots were forced to release the overloading energy from their body in the form of electrical shockwave, causing their power supply to drop to zero. The bureau saw these flaws as a minor problem, and ordered the production of the Mark II unit to continue.
They had a very little idea that one Robo-Ky unit, believed to be the very first Mark II prototype, escaped the assembly factory and is now on the loose. This so-called "renegade unit with self-acclaimed free will" is now wandering around the world, away from the bureau's and the remaining robots' knowledge. Only time knows what and when this lone unit is going to take action.
x-x-x-x-x
Mark 2 grimaced in fury and stared at the open sky. Somehow, he felt something unpleasant lingering inside of his system and he did not know what caused such reaction to take place. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" he demanded and slammed his fist on the throne.
x-x
At the place which was once Pearl Harbour, a band of robots wearing white/blue garb was stranded onboard a cargo ship, waiting to be disposed at the recycling center. Signs of aging were visible on their face, as rusts and damaged bolts were bumping on the metallic skins like pimples and blackhead. The uniform was badly torn and had not been repaired for a long time, and it was slowly eaten by cockroaches and other critters inhabitating the abandoned ship. There was hardly any sign of life or active status coming from the machines, and it seemed that the robots had been purposely left by their creators.
"System-rebooting…"
One by one, the robots' eyes shone in a faint golden and green ray, as if someone had remotely activated their system. A low-sounding machine noise, distorted by rusting gears and squealing metallic hinges, echoed inside the ship, showing that the robots had not been activated for a very long time.
"System-starting-in-the-counts-of-five… four… three… two… one…"
Slowly, the robots' limbs and arms began to move, as the units mechanically reached their weapons slung on their back. They moved away from their compartment cells and stepped out of their prison. Idle as they were, the robots glanced up at the opening on the ceiling.
"Establishing-battlefield-control, standby…"
The robots lifted the hand holding the Thunderseal to the air.
"Primary-objective: find-our-leader."
x-x
Zero was startled. The Maverick Hunter of the Rockman X universe watched over the blue sky and blinked in surprise. "Is it just me, or did something significant has taken place at somewhere?" he pondered and lazily leaned against the cherry blossom tree. As he was about to doze off into his afternoon nap, Ciel jumped out of nowhere and glomped him. "Hey! Ciel, watch it!" he exclaimed, choking for air.
"Aw, Zero-chan doesn't want to be with me," Ciel squealed and rubbed her cheek against his.
"Oh, great. Now even my assistant calls me with the –chan suffix," he grumbled and walked away, with Ciel still hanging her arms around his neck.
x-x
Back at the Tohno residence, a humanoid robot who looked awfully like Hisui woke up from her deep slumber, disturbed by outside interference. She hesitated and pulled off cables and wires prodding onto her body and jumped off the steel chair she was lying on. She stared outside the windows and squinted in concern.
"UNKNOWN POWER DISTURBANCE DETECTED. MECH-HISUI COMMENCING OPERATION."
x-x-x-x-x
The battlefield was eerily silent. There was no voice or sound or whatsoever to break the silence. It was as if time had stopped, bringing everything into a complete halt. The spectators –Sumomo, Chidori and Chihiro- were speechless the moment they witnessed the unthinkable. It was as if the law of nature had been defied, as Hiko and Robo-Ky clashed and stood away from each other in their respective attacking pose.
"What… what has happened?" Sumomo asked, looking back and forth between Hiko and Robo-Ky. It was not long before a shockwave burst from the center of the battlefield, swiping everything standing on its way. Sumomo cried as she was almost blown away by the shockwave before Chidori caught her. "What happened? What has really happened?" the Persocon demanded as she clung onto the shinobi girl's suit.
"I have no idea, Sumomo-san," Chidori told her. The girls looked back at the fighters, who were already standing back.
"Good job, Robo-Ky," Hiko uttered and turned around. "You were able to pull out Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki because you realized that you are still needed by the people out there. Were you still hesitant a while ago, you could have been destroyed. I'm very glad to see you managing to defeat Kuzuryuusen with the final battle secret I had taught you. If Kenshin was watching at us, he would surely be jealous at you."
Robo-Ky gasped in surprise when he saw a huge tear crossing the guru's gi. Hiko noticed the apprentice's worry and smirked. "Don't worry about me, Robo-Ky. This is the consequences every Hiten Mitsurugi master has to face in teaching his student the final battle secret of Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. Death is something each and every Hiten Mitsurugi inheritor must face."
"Sensei…?"
Hiko grinned at the robot's concern before suddenly groaned in pain and fell on his back. His body was slashed by a diagonal scar coupled with electrical sparks, resulting from the counterattack move Robo-Ky landed while attempting to defeat Kuzuryuusen with the combination battoujutsu speed and the Thunderseal nihontou. Robo-Ky, as well as Sumomo and the twin ninja girls, cried in distress and quickly approached Hiko. "He's breathless! Quick! Bring him back to the house!" Robo-Ky exclaimed and lifted Hiko, while Chidori and Chihiro helped him carrying the swordsman to the pottery house. Sumomo, as usual, helplessly cried for distress while frantically running around. Robo-Ky, then, ordered both the young women to search for medicines or herbs while he attended the downed master.
"Sensei, keep yourself together," Robo-Ky whispered as he examined the injury, "don't die in front of me…!"
x-x
The following morning…
Robo-Ky was leaning against the wall of the house, dozing in his sleep. Sumomo was seen lying on the robot's head, mumbling to herself in her hibernation mode. The twin ninjas of Chidori and Chihiro were sleeping next to him, in a position which could cause controversy and unrest among sickened fanboys who loved to see girls sleeping close to each other (really close, literally). They were unaware that a person was slowly stepping toward Robo-Ky and frowned upon him.
"Hey, you! Wake up," roughly Hiko called and kicked his head. The robot was awakened by surprise and looked up at him. "How long are you going to sleep? Forever? Get your lazy bum up right now."
"Sensei…? Sensei!!" Robo-Ky immediately pounced toward him, as to give him a hug. Angrily Hiko evaded the pounce, causing the robot to crash on the potteries.
"A genius like me will only allow gorgeous woman to embrace this body full of pride and glory," arrogantly the swordsman insisted and made his masochist pose.
"Ouch…" Robo-Ky groaned and stood back. "How did you…? I thought I had treated your injury and such…"
Hiko sighed and swayed his hair to the left. "You may hurt my machismo, but my ego is indestructible. As a genius, I will naturally keep staying alive." Out of nowhere, cue music of Stayin' Alive echoed inside the room, and immediately Hiko danced to the disco music, followed by Sumomo who boogied to the 70's rhythm as well. Robo-Ky sweatdropped to see the out-of-characterness act.
"Okay, stop that crap out." The music ended as sudden as it started. Hiko took Robo-Ky's nihontou and withdrew it. He examined the blade for a while before nodded in acknowledgment and showed it to Robo-Ky. "This is the reason why the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki wasn't unleashed in its full force," he uttered and pointed to a loose screw on its handle. Robo-Ky stared at the unfastened screw and looked back at Hiko. "Despite the fact that you had pulled it out with everything you had, this sword seemed to understand your very delicate heart and let one of its screws to loosen, thus weakening the destructive force of Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. I don't know who designed or forged this sword, but whoever did so must have understandings towards you very much." Robo-Ky just frowned and nodded. He knew that his creator must have known something inside of him when he was brought to life in the world.
"Anyway, it's the miracle of I, the great master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, that I survived death once again," Hiko spoke and went into his yet another arrogant pose of intelligence. Robo-Ky just sighed in wonder to see how unpredictable his mentor was.
x-x
"Are you sure you have to go, Robo-Ky?" Hiko asked, as the PWAB warrior was embarking on another journey.
"I don't really want to stay here much longer, since I've accomplished my task to learn Hiten Mitsurugi from you," Robo-Ky told him.
"I see." Hiko took of the mantle and handed it over to Robo-Ky. "Take this robe with you. It's the sign that you have officially inherited the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. From now on, you'll become Seijuro Hiko the 14th."
Robo-Ky blinked in surprise and shook his head. "Oh, no. I don't want to inherit this mantle or everything else. I just want to learn the swordsmanship and its philosophy, that I do," modestly he spoke.
Hiko grumbled and slung back the mantle on both his broad shoulders. "After teaching you with the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu for three days and escaped death for the second time, can't you at least show some respect toward your mentor?" he insisted.
"I'm very sorry, sensei, but inheriting the name Seijuro Hiko wasn't my intention in the first place. Besides," and the robot sneakily grinned, "if I were to become the 14th Seijuro Hiko, then who's going to be the arrogant and intelligent god of Hiten Mitsurugi, whose machismo is admired by women and arrogance is hated by men? Who's going to become the idolized icon in both this universe and the world outside? Even the lone wolf will admit that."
(back at Kiev, Lone Wolf NEO was struggling to get off Mriya's tight glomp when he suddenly sneezed. "Now what?" he demanded."Aw, Lone Wolf is mad because someone mentions his name," Mriya squealed and tightened her glomp.
"Mriya, could you please stop glomping me, before…" Lone Wolf warily glanced at Hibiki who was murderously glowering at him. "Uh-oh."
"Lone Wolf-san baaka!" and the Takane girl followed with a hard slap on his head with her tessen.)
Both the swordsmen of Hiten Mitsurugi laughed, while the embarrassed shinobi girls helplessly explained that they were not having any crush toward Hiko. "My, my. You already know the consequences if I were to hand over the title Seijuro Hiko to you," Hiko commented, grinning at the young women who were struck in embarrassment upon being under his observation. "Anyway, you better get going. You still have your journey to complete," he spoke and walked back to the pottery house.
"Sensei…" Robo-Ky was staring at the great swordsman for a while before he bowed in respect. The mobile persocon and the two ninja girls were bowing at him in respect, as well. "Arigatou…"
"AIIIII! We should get going! Travellers await no time to lose! AIIIII!!!" Sumomo exclaimed. Robo-Ky nodded at Sumomo and walked away from the pottery house, closely followed by Chidori and Chihiro. Soon, they left the mountains area and headed toward their yet-to-be-revealed destination. Hiko took a glance of his departing student before grinned and stepped inside the pottery house when he spotted a woman sitting on a boulder next to the house.
"I'm very sure that you made the right decision of teaching him the legendary Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, didn't you Hiko-san?" the woman with sapphire eyes asked.
Hiko stared at the woman for a while before he grinned. "It was not my decision to teach the swords technique to everyone else. As a matter of fact, the era where swords once reigned the soil now ended and I was thinking of quitting this responsibility until he appeared before me," he uttered. "At that time, I already realized that he has a task to deal with. A task which may be the reason of why he wanted to become my apprentice. Now tell me, Aurora-san, what's your thought of the so-called self-proclaimed PWAB warrior?"
The woman giggled. "As the Handmaiden of Fate, I can feel the sense of responsibility burning inside of him. The responsibility of protecting the people with his sword and soul," she spoke. "But I have this feeling that his existence will be nothing unless there's someone to emotionally help and support him."
"I, too, am hoping to see him lifting his sword for the sake of the person he's protecting," Hiko said and entered the house. "Would you like to drink sake with me, Aurora-san? It would be a great pleasure for a Handmaiden of Fate to enjoy the day with the greatest swordsman the world has ever seen."
Aurora generously declined the offer. "I'll just pass. Besides, I have to leave after this," she spoke and slowly jumped off the boulder. "I was just visiting this area when I saw the duel you and your student had a while ago." She bowed before him and took her leave. "We will meet again, Hiko-san."
"Send my regards to your lone wolf. I, for once, would really like to meet him in a while," Hiko told her. The woman nodded and waved at him before leaving the area. Hiko just watched at the Handmaiden before shrugged and stared up at the open sky. "Maybe there's still hope for swordsmanship to have place on this era… good luck on whatever you're doing, Robo-Ky."