Chapter Three: The Path to Zazen Town

Goemon kicked down the entrance of Oedo Castle, knocking it completely off it's hinges.

"Y'know Goemon, you didn't need to do that…" Yae muttered.

"Yeah, I know…I just thought'd it look cool…" Goemon chuckled.

"Alright, so we head to Zazen Town?" Sasuke asked, looking down at the fallen door.

"Yup. We leave town through the gates east of here." Goemon answered.

The four crossed the bridge leading to the castle and entered the town. The street lights lit up the dark road, as the lights from the nearby shops and houses dimly shown through the curtains and windows. They turned a corner, and went through another gate, leading to a bridge that led up to the outskirts of town: Musashi. Two gatekeepers guarded the gate; no one was ever allowed to leave the city due to increasing spottings of monsters. Only those with permission from the Lord were allowed through.

"Hold it you four!" the guard on the left side of the gate commanded.

The guard on the right rolled his eyes. "Do you have permission to leave the city?"

Goemon reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a wooden entry pass then handed it to him.

"You still have that?" Yae asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What can I say?" Goemon shrugged. "I'm a bit of a packrat…"

"Oh my god!" the right guard yelled. "This is a…"

"ENTRY PASS!" they both yelled.

"You may enter." The right guard said, unlocking the gate. He handed the pass back to Goemon.

Goemon nodded, and they ran through the bridge and through the gate.

The ocean swifted slowly as the four entered the coastline. The sand shifted beneath their feet as they walked across the brown sand. The cool air traveled through Goemon's thick blue hair.

"I always loved this place…" Goemon smiled as the wind pushed him along the coast.

"My wife loves it out here…" Ebisu said quietly as the sand shuffled under his feet.

"Oh yeah…" Sasuke replied. "I always forget you're married…to that pretty woman Sangei, right?"

"Yup."

"And with a kid, too." Sasuke went on.

"Omisaru, right?" Yae asked.

"She's a little angel…" Ebisu smiled. "Just the other day she knocked out her first pickpocket…"

Goemon, Sasuke, and Yae all shuddered. They opened a gate that would lead them into the tunnel cave that would soon lead them to the path of Zazen Town. The lanterns lit up the dark and eerie cave; sounds of water droplets dripping here and there.

"Sure is dark in here…" Sasuke said, looking up at all the lanterns.

The four of them continued down the long tunnel.

"What do you think Seppukumaru wants the princess for, guys?" Yae asked.

Goemon figured she was trying to be more of a friend to everybody else as well.

"Probably just lonely…" Ebisumaru said. "Or maybe he just wants a good cook. She does make a fine brisket…"

"Maybe he needs her for a project or something…" Sasuke said, crossing his arms behind his head. "Like how Bismaru needed Dochuki…"

"Maybe." Goemon crossed his arms. "Or maybe he's just using her to lure us into a trap."

Everybody nodded. Soon, they eventually reached the gate on the other side of the long and winding tunnel. The moon shone brightly on the other side as Goemon pushed open the gate. The gigantic field leading to Zazen looked even more beautiful at night; the stars gave off a reflection on all the flower petals as they twinkled brightly in the dark sky. Off in the distance, they could see the outlining of the Wise Man of Iga's manor. They all took a step forward, and suddenly began tumbling down a very long and steep hill. They had forgotten that they were on a mountain and were supposed to take another path on the side.

"Aahh!" Goemon yelled, swallowing dirt and grass every now and then.

"Ouch! Oof! Owie…" Ebisu tumbled forward.

Everybody yelled and screamed for a few minutes before finally slamming into the ground below. They sat there for a few minutes, trying to regain consciousness.

"Next time, someone remind me there's another road…" Goemon shook his head.

"Yeah…yeah…" Sasuke fell back.

They all stood up slowly, brushing the grass and dirt off of their clothes.

"C'mon guys, the entrance is right up there." Yae pointed out, beginning to move forward.

"Right." the three followed her.

They followed a dirt trail that led them up through a giant hill, which eventually got them up to Wise Man's house, and more importantly, to the entrance of Zazen Town.

As they stepped down the trail, they heard an echoing and maniacal laugh. They all stopped, and looked up. A giant robot began falling down to Earth.

"Whoa guys!" Goemon shouted. "Look out!"

The four dived out of the way as the giant machine landed where they were standing.

"What the…!" Goemon looked up the robot.

It was a giant, mechanical samurai machine holding to twin katanas, and a silver metal helmet covered its face. It wore a giant black and red cloak which flowed in the wind as it stood towering over them. The voice of Seppukumaru and the four Tsujikiri could be heard from inside.

"Aha!" Seppukumaru laughed. "At last, now I have you!"

"Seppukumaru!" Goemon yelled. "I should have known!"

"Thanks to your fight back at the castle, I had enough energy to fill the Rage Gauge and summon my…helper!" he laughed.

The four Tsujikiri could be heard laughing as well.

"Think you can stop me now!" Seppukumaru howled, stepping the robot's foot near Goemon.

Goemon dived out of the way before it crushed him.

"Behold the power of SAMURAI AIKEN!" Seppukumaru laughed.

"There's no use in fighting him!" Yae yelled to Goemon. "We'll all be killed!"

"Looks like there's no other choice!" Goemon replied.

Goemon reached into his inside pocket and pulled out an oversized shell. "For all that's good, I summon thee, GOEMON IMPACT!" he blew as hard as he could into the shell.

A very low pitched echo emitted from the shell. Suddenly, gigantic rumbles began to shake the ground. A giant robot in the form of Goemon appeared in the distance, crossing the mountains with great ease. He stopped in front of the four, and looked down at them.

"What'cha guys need?" he bellowed.

"We need you, Impact!" Goemon shouted, jumping into the giant's mouth.

Everybody soon followed. Impact stood up, and turned to face the Samurai Aiken.

"I see you still have that giant hunk of tin scrap!" Seppukumaru said, readying his machine into a fighting position.

"We'll see who the giant hunk of metal is!" Goemon shouted.

Impact punched the samurai as hard as he could in the stomach, then uppercut him with his right, boulder-like fist.

"Aha!" Impact laughed as the samurai stumbled backward.

Seppukumaru and the Tsujikiri all mumbled in pain. "Ugh…" he mumbled. "I hope that's not all you've got!"

"Hmm?" Goemon arched an eyebrow.

"GAMMA GAMMA ATTACK!" Seppukumaru screamed.

Suddenly, without warning, a gigantic beam of energy shot out of Aiken's twin katanas and struck Impact in the chest. Impact bellowed with pain, and fell backward.

The four ninjas could feel the blow.

"Son of a—" Goemon mumbled.

"Counterstrike!" Ebisu yelled, pulling back on one of Impact's control levers.

Quickly, Impact jumped to his feet, kicking Aiken very powerfully in the face. When he had risen, Impact quickly struck with quick punch with his left hand, and then an uppercut with his right, sending Aiken into the air. While the samurai was falling back down to the Earth, Impact kicked him in mid-air, sending him to slam into a nearby mountainside.

"Had enough yet, you jerks!" Yae yelled.

"Who-who are you calling jerks!" Rokudenashi yelled back. "JERKS!"

The samurai had quickly retained its stability, then slashed as Impact with its twin blades. Quickly, Impact grabbed one blade by its tip, and pulled it out of Aiken's hand. He held it in a fighting position.

"Want some, Seppuku?" Goemon laughed.

"Well then, come and get it!" Sasuke yelled.

Seppukumaru was furious. "You! How-how dare you!"

Aiken quickly slashed at Impact, but Impact blocked it with his own sword. He quickly pushed Aiken back with all his might, then slashed him across the waist; completely cutting the samurai robot in half.

"NO!" the five screamed in the upper-torso.

Impact laughed, then picked up the upper part of the samurai, and held it closely to his face.

"Hand over the princess!" Goemon commanded.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, my little blue-haired friend…" Seppukumaru replied. "…but I do not have her with me right at the moment…"

"Where the hell have you taken her!" Goemon screamed.

"Well…if you want to know that bad…" Seppukumaru teased. "I guess I can give you a clue…on a little island floating in the sea."
"Ryugu!" the four ninjas yelled simultaneously.

"Well! It seems you four have been doing your homework, haven't you?" he flicked his hair. "Well, if you excuse me…I must be heading off to regroup…"

"Oh! Allow us!" Goemon said.

Impact slammed the remains of Aiken into the mountainside, then tossed him up into the air as high as he could.

"Impact!" he yelled. "Super Energy Beam!"

"Right!" Impact bellowed.

He began to gather energy; it began to assemble energy particles near his mouth. And as Aiken fell back in front of him, Impact released the energy from his mouth. A huge beam of energy shot out, disintegrating the rest of the machine, and sending it across the country.

"I HATE YOU GOEMON!" Seppukumaru screamed as he disappeared into the horizon.

-- -- -- --

The four looked up at their gigantic, metal friend.

"Thanks again for saving our asses!" Goemon smiled.

"Ah…it was nothin'…really!" Impact replied. "Well, I better be off! I've got another part in a movie! I play this gigantic robot that was built secretly by the military in this secret base on a secret island which is soon overthrown by a group of terrorists known as…I think they're FOXDOG, or FOXHOUND, or something…I forget. But it's based off a popular video game!"

"That sounds great!" Sasuke replied.

"We'll be sure to see it when it hits theatres!" Yae shouted.

"But I ain't paying for the popcorn!" Ebisu smiled.

Impact bellowed with laughter that shook the Earth. "Well, I'm headed off for America! See ya guys later!"

He smiled, then started up his roller-skates. He turned around, and flew up into the night sky, disappearing behind the stars. Goemon turned to look at his team.

"Well, Zazen Town is just ahead!" he said, pointing to the gate. "It's been a rather long night, wouldn't you say? I say we go get a room and spend the night here…I'm pretty damn tired…"

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Sasuke agreed.

"Maybe I can negotiate another free meal…" Ebisu pondered.

"NO!" everybody said.

"Okay…fine."

Goemon, Ebisu, and Sasuke headed for the gate. Yae stood where she was, lost in deep thought. I've never seen Goemon like this before…he seems so…so dedicated…

What is this feeling? Could I-could I be falling in—

"Yae!" Goemon called out. "You coming? Or are you gonna spend the night at Wise Man's place?"

Her eyes widened. Knowing that Wise Man was NOT a good man when it came to pretty girls, she quickly caught up with the three. Together, they entered the gate that entered into Zazen Town. Maybe here they could recuperate and prepare for the journey to Ryugu Island. But one thing was for sure; they all felt like falling over into a deep sleep.