Author's Note: This chapter has more action than Chapter 2 did, so prepare! This one's gonna be good.... I hope. Introduction of the group of villains starts here. This chapter is a lot longer than the previous chapters. I also have to give credit to my brother Chris a.k.a. Du for typing the fight between Aisha and Angelglory for me. The second half or so of this chapter might be little confusing for some. Just to clarify, the focus goes from fight to fight. So try and bear with me. Anyway, here's chapter 5...
Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star.
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There is a group of assassins within the Kei Pirates that are said to be just as dangerous as the Anten Seven. They are called "The Four Pillars of Hell". Onsen, a man so skilled at killing, no one knows what he really looks like. Angelglory, he is said to be the real angel of death, or perhaps just a fallen angel. Thera, her psychic ability to manipulate people's minds makes her a threat to anyone. Kyen, a man shrouded in so much mystery that not even the other Kei Pirates know anything about him. They are all just as deadly together then when they are separate. No longer overshadowed by the Anten Seven, "The Four Pillars of Hell" have become active once again...
A man stood in the middle of a dimly lit room, that man was Kyen. Three people stood in front of him, hidden in the darkness. One of them withsunglasses and blonde hair, one had long wavy hair, and the other had on a horned mask.
"What is this about, Kyen? You woke me from my sleep. This better be important." The blonde haired man said.
"It's about the XGP and the bio-android that activates its controls." Kyen replied with his devilish smile the only thing to be seen on his face.
"The Anten Seven failed to retrieve them. They were all talk after all." The wavy haired woman said, brushing some hair away from her face.
"Am I correct in assuming that we've been asked to get them?" The masked man hissed.
Kyen grinned, "Yes, We're also to retrieve the child from the 'LH4570' project. And while we're at it...we'll take care of Gene Starwind as well." He said, laughing demonically afterwards.
Chapter 5: The Four Pillars of Hell
It was jut past sunset by the time Gene and the others finally returned. Suzuka sitting on the couch, patiently waiting for Gene and the others to return. Locke was lying down on the other couch, staring off at nothing. Aisha was sitting on Jim's chair and was spinning around and around. Gene and Jim walked in through the door; Gene had the briefcase by his side. Melfina walked in afterwards. Her arms were wrapped around two grocery bags. Aisha stopped spinning around in the chair and looked right at the big briefcase.
"AH! Is that our reward?!" she asked gleefully.
"Uh, yeah it's...Hey!" Gene said, just as Aisha snatched the briefcase away from Gene and hugged it.
Aisha grinned with satisfaction. "And it's all ours!" she squealed out happily.
"Sorry Aisha, we're using it to pay off our debt to Fred." Jim announced.
"What?!" Aisha yelled, dropping the briefcase.
Locke snapped out of his daze and sat up, looked around and saw Gene and the others. Everyone looked at Locke, while he just looked back at them. He quickly looked down at the floor after a few seconds.
"Oh, he's awake." Gene said, looking a little surprised.
"Yeah, he woke up a little while after you guys left." Aisha remarked.
"Gene, I need speak with you outside." Suzuka said, getting up from the couch and walking out the door.
Gene blinked a couple of times. "Uh, okay." He said, walking out after her.
Melfina came out of the kitchen, after putting the groceries away, and saw Locke was awake. She figured that she'd be nice and introduce herself. She walked over to the couch and knelt down in front of him.
"Hi Locke, my name's Melfina. It's nice to meet you." She said happily.
Locke looked up from the floor and stared at her for a few seconds. "...ahh..." he looked gloomily back down at the floor.
"It's no good, Mel. He can't talk." Aisha stated.
Melfina looked over to Aisha, with a puzzled look on her face. "Why not?" Jim asked, looking confused.
Aisha shrugged, "Suzu thinks that he's too scared to." She claimed.
Melfina looked back at Locke. "Don't worry, you don't have to be scared anymore." She said, with a soft smile.
Locke looked back up at Melfina in surprise. He blinked a couple of times, then slowly a small smile appeared on his face. All his life he couldn't trust anyone, but deep down he felt that he could trust her.
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Gene and Suzuka stood by the railing outside. The sun had already sunk past the horizon and the stars were shimmering across the sky, along with a full moon. Suzuka had just told Gene about Kyen showing up at Starwind & Hawking Enterprise.
"What does that guy want with Melfina?!" Gene shouted out.
"He works with the Kei Pirates, he's probably been told to retrieve Melfina and the Outlaw Star."
Gene turned back to the water and leaned on the rail. "So, they really are looking for us again." He stated.
"He also said that he was after that child, Locke." Suzuka said, looking up at the stars.
"What?" Gene looked at Suzuka.
Suzuka looked back at Gene. "Well..."
-flash back-
Kyen looked inside and saw Aisha sitting on the couch, he also noticed Locke lying there as well. Kyen smirked sinisterly and began walking away. Suzuka glared at Kyen as he walked away. "I'll be back...for the XGP, the bio-android girl...and that boy as well. Be ready to defend yourself." Kyen remarked, laughing again afterwards.
-end flash back-
Gene looked concerned. "I wonder what Locke has to do with Melfina." He said, crossing his arms.
"I don't know. But Kyen and his group will probably show up around high noon tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow." Suzuka said, before leaving for the night.
Gene looked down at his reflection in the water and said, "What'd we get ourselves into this time?" he turned around and went back inside.
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Back inside, Gene and Jim were arguing. Locke had fallen asleep on the couch again, and Melfina sat next to him. Aisha had already told Jim and Melfina about Kyen.
"Well, where is he gonna sleep then?" Jim asked.
"Not on the couches. They make to much noise during the night." Gene complained.
"He could sleep in Aisha's room..." Jim said.
"What?! What're you talking about?" Aisha yelled.
"He could sleep on your bed, it's big enough for two." Jim remarked.
"Humph, alright fine." Aisha grumbled. She walked over to the couch, picked up Locke and carried him into her room.
Gene turned to Jim and Melfina. "All right, we should get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." He said, already walking up the stairs to his cot/bed.
Jim and Melfina went off to their beds to sleep. The night hours lingered and everyone was having a hard time sleeping. Gene sat awake, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about how he had to duel with Leilong at noon before. About how he almost was killed that day. He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them back up.
"Hello, Gene Starwind." Said a voice.
Gene quickly sat up and looked to the window. It was Kyen, sitting in a chair next to Gene's bed.
"Who the hell are you?!" Gene asked, taken by surprise.
"Suzuka told you about me if I'm not mistaken. I'm Kyen." Kyen answered with his usually demonic grin.
"So, you've come to kill me during the night?" Gene asked, slowly reaching for his gun.
Kyen scoffed. "Tch, hardly. I like to kill my prey during the day. So everyone can see the blood spilled on the ground." He said, laughing slightly.
"You're one sick bastard, you know that?" Gene said, being his usual smart-ass self, putting his hand around his gun.
"Why, thank you." Kyen said. "And don't try using you're gun. Unless you want to die right now."
Gene growled and took his hand away from his gun. "Damn." He mumbled.
"I hope you're ready to fight tomorrow. At noon exactly, we'll be here." Kyen said, getting up from the chair and walking down the stairs.
"Yeah, you better be ready to lose." Gene boasted quietly.
Kyen stopped walking. "Whatever helps your confidence." He said sharply back to Gene, then continuing down the stairs.
Kyen walked over to Aisha's door. He opened it and looked in, and saw Locke curled up in a ball asleep with Aisha curled up next to him. Kyen took a good look at Locke before closing the door and walking outside of the building. Kyen said to himself, "It's hard to believe that they consider him a replacement." Kyen vanished into the night.
Now it was almost noontime at Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. Gene was sorting through his Caster shells, Aisha was lifting some weights, Jim was sitting in his computer chair, Melfina sat on the couch next to Locke and Suzuka had yet to show up.
"So Gene, what number Caster shells do you have?" Jim asked curiously.
"Let's see, I got numbers 5-7, a #9, #10-11 and a #19." Gene remarked.
"How'd you get a #9?" Jim asked, looking confused.
"It came with the ones we got from Stev. Pretty lucky, if you ask me." Gene said, smirking to himself.
Just then, the door swiftly opened and Suzuka walked in. "Gene, its noon." she said.
Gene nodded and rounded up his Caster shells, loading a #5 into the gun beforehand. "Let's do this."
Gene, Jim, Suzuka and Aisha went outside while Melfina and Locke remained inside. As they walked out, Kyen was seen standing there. Two people stood behind him, one was a man with spiked blonde hair wearing sunglasses and the other was a woman with long wavy hair.
"I see you're come prepared, Mr. Starwind." Kyen said, his cold eyes fixated on Gene.
"And I see you brought some friends." Gene responded. "Come on. Let's get this over with."
"Now now, hold on for a moment." Kyen interrupted. "Let's make this fair for everyone. One on one fights, I would assume that child isn't fighting so that makes it even."
"What're you talking about?" Gene asked.
"It's simple. There's three of us, and three of you. We'll split up and fighting individually." Kyen answers. He looks at Suzuka. "I know how much Suzuka wants to try and kill me. Even though I would rather kill you, Gene, right away. I can tell Suzuka wants finish what we started 2 years ago."
Suzuka closed her eyes and smirked slightly. "You know me all too well, Kyen."
"Of course I do. Angelglory, who would you rather fight?" Kyen asked, turning his head towards the man in the sunglasses
The spiky haired man, known as Angelglory, had been exchanging glares with Aisha the entire time. "I'll take the Ctarl Ctarl. Maybe she'll be a challenge, or maybe not." He said, still glaring at Aisha.
"And that leaves you to me, Gene Starwind." The woman with the wavy hair said.
"Hmm, this'll be interesting." Gene responded. "Jim, back me up ok?"
Jim nodded then suddenly heard the woman's voice in his head. "So your name's Jim, huh? I think I'll have some fun with you after I'm done with your partner." The woman gave Jim an eerie smile.
"That's enough, Thera. Come on then. Shall we get under way?" Kyen shouted.
Angelglory and Aisha went off to their fight and Gene, Jim and Thera went off in the opposite direction. Kyen remained standing in the same spot while Suzuka took her sword into her hands.
"This seems all too familiar, doesn't it Suzuka?" Kyen said, grinning devilishly.
"Yes, but the outcome will be different. This time you won't come back from the dead." Suzuka responded harshly.
"How said I ever died?" Kyen remarked, his eyes widened.
Suzuka growled slightly and tightened her grip on her sword. "Let us begin." She said.
Suzuka quickly dashed at Kyen and swung straight down, Kyen blocked the attack with a small double tipped knife. Suzuka jumped back and Kyen leaped forward, swinging the knife fiercely at her. Suzuka blocked all of the attacks and then threw a quick slash in between Kyen's attacks. Kyen stumbled back and put his hand to his chest, there was a small gash going across his chest.
"Well well, it's been awhile since I had the pleasure of seeing my own blood." He said, letting the blood trickle onto the ground.
"Get used to it." Suzuka commented then went in for another attack.
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"Why'd you pick me to be your opponent?" Aisha asked Angelglory, who was standing several feet away from her.
"I wanted a challenge and since you're a Ctarl Ctarl, I wanted to test you're strength. Although, you don't look too promising." Angelglory responded, his head tilted to the side.
Aisha looked at Angelglory and got angrier and more ready for the upcoming fight that she knew was going to occur. "Give me your best shot." she growled.
Angelglory smiled and walked towards her then becomes a blur and disappears. Aisha made a confused face and began to spin around, looking for her adversary.
"Show yourself you coward!" Aisha yelled at the top of her lungs still spinning looking for Angelglory who decided to grant her wish.
He appeared behind her and dug his hand into Aisha's back. She screeched in pain and stumbled forward cursing Angelglory for his use of trickery.
"Speed isn't an act of trickery you stupid little girl. It is merely a skill that my colleagues and I have perfected," said Angelglory just standing with his arms folded looking at Aisha.
She made a fist and shook it at Angelglory for a second but then got back into her fighting stance preparing herself for anything he could possibly do.
Angelglory smiled, shook his head, and looked at the ground then said, "Persistent little girl aren't you."
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Gene stood still; his Caster aimed directly at Thera. Jim took cover behind a few trashcans. Thera played with some of her hair while staring Gene down.
"Ya know, if you weren't trying to kill me, we could've really hit it off." Gene claimed, while smirking. "So tell me. What's so dangerous about you that you work as an assassin?" he asked.
"I like to play games with people. Nothing really dangerous though." Thera replied, putting a finger up to her lips, acting extremely innocent.
Gene scoffed, "How 'bout we just cut the crap right now, huh?" he asked, not buying into her tricks.
Thera's innocent look immediately went away and her eyes narrowed. "Finally, someone smart. Too bad you have to die." She exclaimed, her tone of voice changing from nice to annoyed. "Show me what you got."
"Take this!" Gene yelled, pulling the trigger.
Thera's eyes lit up and changed to an ominous yellow color. Suddenly, Gene moved back slightly as if something hit him. He aimed his Caster in the air just as it fired.
"Gene! What're ya doing?!" Jim shouted at his partner. "Stop screwing around and shoot her!"
Gene looked like he was in trouble. "Great, she's just like with that damn cactus." He growled.
Thera laughed to herself. "So, you've figured out my powers haven't you?" she asked.
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Kyen jumped onto the rooftops followed closely behind by Suzuka. He threw his knife straight at her but she deflected it away. They stood at a standstill for several moments, sizing up each other. They jumped forward and swung at each other. When they passed, they remained silent. Kyen stood up straight and turned to Suzuka.
"Was that one of your secret techniques?" he asked.
Suzuka turned to Kyen with a cold look on her face. "Yes. I waited a long time to use one against you." She stated.
"I see." Kyen turned back around and fell to his knees. "It's such a shame..."
"What is?" Suzuka asked.
"It's a shame you thought I was finished!" Kyen yelled, quickly spun around and throwing two knives at Suzuka.
She sidestepped the first, but the second one went straight into her right arm. She shouted out in pain and dropped to her knees, grasping her arm. Kyen stood back up and walked over to her. He looked down at her with his usual ominous grin.
"Being with these people has made you weak. You don't deserve to be called as assassin anymore." He said harshly.
"You don't deserve to live after what you and Hitoriga have done to ruin my life." Suzuka yelled back at him.
She quickly pulled the knife out of her arm and stabbed upwards. Kyen just barely stepped back to avoid the strike. Suzuka grabbed her sword again and swung low, dislocating Kyen's left knee. Kyen fell to the ground and grasped his knee.
"Ah! Damn you." He snarled, swiftly backhanding Suzuka across the face.
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Angelglory pulled out a two-foot long pole and held it at his side. Aisha, confused at this small weapon shrugged it off and decided to go on the offensive for once. She charged at him full force with her claws flailing around trying to connect with the assassin's body. Angelglory in turn just spun his pole, blocking her every attack. Aisha, exhausted after so many attacks, backs off to catch her breath and try and find a weak point in his defense.
"Damn it, where's this guy's weak spot?" Aisha thought to herself.
Angelglory, noticing Aisha was tired, decided to show some true power and his pole began to extend to about seven-feet long. Aisha was shocked at this event alone but then a long, curved blade came out of the top. The two-foot pole was really the carry-on form of Angelglory's favorite weapon, his scythe.
"I think you've had enough. Let's end this quickly." He boasted.
Aisha's jaw hit the floor and Angelglory just smiled at this show of shock at his true weapon. While Aisha was still in shock, Angelglory charged at her full speed, quarter strength. About a second later, he was behind Aisha just standing with his scythe in one hand and his back to Aisha. Then, the bottom half of Aisha's shirt fell around her waist and the sleeves fell off her arms. She wasn't scarred at all from the attack, just her clothes. Angelglory gave a slight chuckle and Aisha became as angry as she'd ever been.
"You bastard!" she yelled loudly.
She turned and lunged at Angelglory with all of her might and dug her claws deep into his shoulder blades. Angelglory gave a slight yelp of pain and fell a bit forward, dropping his scythe. Aisha was pleased with this because she actually hit him, but then he started laughing maniacally.
"Hahahahaha, that really hurt you know." Angelglory chuckled.
Aisha was confused and scared now. Those feeling intensified as Angelglory's body was pushing out her claws. She pulled back quickly to see what the hell was going on and two bloody limbs appeared out of Angelglory's back. They then whitened, grew feathers, and grew in size. He had wings!
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Back inside, Melfina and Locke were sitting on the couch listening to all that was going on outside. Melfina was worried that Gene would get hurt, or even worse. Locke was lost in thought, he had been awake when Kyen looked into Aisha's room and stared directly at him. Locke was afraid that he might get taken away. Or more so, he was afraid of Kyen. Kyen's horrifying glare kept playing back in Locke's mind. Locke started shaking a little from his fear. Melfina noticed his shaking and looked at him with a concerned expression.
"What's wrong? Are you scared too?" she asked.
Locke slowly nodded yes. He gripped the couch to try and stop the shaking, but to no avail.
"Don't worry, everything will be all right. Gene and the others will make sure we're safe." She said, trying to cheer him up.
Suddenly, the front door exploded open and in the doorway stood and man in a horned mask. His arms were chained together and weighted down with a large rounded stone.
"Here you are. That was simple enough." The man hissed.
Melfina and Locke turned and saw the man walk inside and approach them. The chained man began chanting something then yelled.
"Ah, what's going on? I can't move!" Melfina shouted.
"Heh heh, of course you can't. That was a sealing spell, so you're paralyzed." The man said, laughing afterwards.
It was true, Melfina and Locke had been frozen be the spell and were unable to escape. The masked man slowly approached them.
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"So you're a psychic or something, am I right?" Gene asked, loading a #10 into his Caster.
"Yes, I don't need physical strength to kill people, just mind power." Thera gloated.
Gene raised and eyebrow. "Oh really? Is your mind strong enough to stop this?" he yelled, pulling the trigger on his Caster and firing it at Thera.
Thera used her mind again to make Gene aim elsewhere. "Now it's my turn to play! Catch!" she yelled out.
The ground in front of her became detached from the ground and went flying at Gene. He jumped to the side only to have to jump out of the way of another pile of rubble. Gene turned around and ran away from the rocks that were being flung at him. Thera chased after him continuing her onslaught, while Jim just sat there on the ground watching Gene run from boulders.
"Jeez, calm down, rock lady!" Gene shouted back at Thera.
"Shut up and die! Running is just prolonging your pain!" She yelled.
Gene continued to run until he came back to Starwind & Hawking Enterprises. The door was blown open and Gene saw Kyen and Suzuka on the roof. Gene dodged another rock and ran inside to see the masked man standing in front of Melfina and Locke.
"Hey! Leave 'em alone!" Gene loaded a #19 shell into the Caster and aimed it at the man.
The man turned and faced Gene. Just then Kyen appeared in the doorway. Gene turned around to face Kyen and fired the Caster. The blast caught Kyen by surprise and sent him flying backwards, crashing him into the railing.
"Augh! Damn it! How could you screw this up? Retreat for now!" Kyen barked. The masked man vanished and so did Kyen.
Jim caught up with Gene and saw the blown open door. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned around to see Thera.
"Now we can play." She said devilishly.
"Gene! Help!" Jim managed to scream before vanishing along with Thera.
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Angelglory then jumped into the air still laughing maniacally and then went completely dead serious and glared at Aisha. He charged full force this time at her and punched her in the stomach. Aisha groaned and fell forward to her knees. Angelglory picked up his scythe and held the blade around her neck.
Just as he was going to slice her apart, Kyen stepped in to call off Angelglory. "Angelglory! We're leaving. Come on." Kyen yelled before vanishing.
Angelglory immediately went into a fit of rage for not being able to finish his kill, but he obeyed Kyen and left her alive.
He knocked Aisha out with the butt end of his scythe and yelled at her collapsed form, "Argh, you're not worth my time you impudent mortal!" As he finished the sentence he had the scythe shrink back to the two-foot pole and flew off still enraged.
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The front door, of Starwind & Hawking Enterprises, was completely destroyed. Gene carried in an unconscious Aisha and laid her down on one of the couches. Suzuka sat on the other couch with her arm bandaged up from the knife wound. Melfina stood next to Gene, worried.
"Gene, what happened to Jim?" Melfina asked, really concerned.
"He got kidnapped." He said, sighing afterwards. "Damn it, what do they want with Jim?"
Gene sat back against the wall and looked at Jim's chair. Gene's partner was gone...
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So how was it? Long? Yeah I know. But I had some computer problems and stuff. Again, credit for the Aisha vs. Angelglory goes to my bro, Chris a.k.a. Du. R&R please! Thanks!