Disclaimer: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers is the property of Sunrise. Ronin Warriors is the property of Bandai Entertainment.

Author's Note: Just realized today that I made a mistake in Chapter 12, and it's not something I can go into detail about here, but trust me, it's kind of a big error. If you've read the original version of the chapter, then you might be able to figure out what I mean.

So, anyway, Chapter 15. We're only five chapters away from the end, folks, so you know what that means. Yep, it's time to start building to the climax. So let's get to it.

Enjoy, and please review.

The Wicked Knights
by Jake the Fearless Leader

Chapter Fifteen
"Telepathic Overload"

News of Cye's promotion spread quickly through the ranks of Zankoku's forces. Rochelle, as the self-proclaimed leader of the Sinister Fae, was furious. She always saw herself as her lord's right hand, and a former Ronin Warrior usurping her position did not sit well with her. Aviva was more indifferent about it. It didn't make a difference to her one way or another. Melaina was quick to congratulate the Wicked Knight in the most flirtatious manner possible. That was just her way, and no one was surprised that she was trying to use her feminine wiles to get into Cye's good graces. Clara was the only one who was genuinely happy for him. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about the human teenager was comforting and familiar.

Regardless of their personal feelings about the Wicked Knight suddenly being their superior, the Fae knew better than to question Zankoku's decision. And as long as the Mortal Realm fell under their control, it didn't matter where the orders came from. So when Cye instructed the four to head into Akuma City to investigate the source of some suspicious activity around the marketplace, they went without complaint. This hadn't been the first time they had been sent to do undercover work. Zankoku was always on the lookout for new information he could use in his schemes. Most of the time, nothing ever came of these missions. Shady business deals were extremely common in the Nether Realm. But this time, the Fae had returned with exactly the kind of information he'd been looking for. After they'd given their report, he had dismissed them and immediately sent for the Wicked Knight of Tsunami. Zankoku couldn't trust this assignment to just anyone.

"They're called the Maranwe Statues."

"Maranwe?" Cye had questioned.

"It's quenya — means destiny," explained Zankoku. "Apparently, there is one statue in each realm, and if you can harness the power within the statue, you can control the destiny of that realm."

"Sounds promising," said Cye.

"It does, doesn't it?" Zankoku had paused then to examine the teenager before him. "That hair color suits you."

The Wicked Knight cast the demon a confused look.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, but I'm being serious. Black and auburn is a good look on you."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Cye had responded awkwardly before returning to the matter at hand. "So, basically, you want me to go retrieve the book that will tell us the lowdown on these statues. And how much time do I have before the Ronin brats and their allies get wind of what we're doing and come after me?"

Zankoku held out his hand placatingly. "Relax, Cye. With the plan I'm cooking up, they won't have a prayer of figuring it out before it's too late. Now, do you have your tonic with you?"

Cye nodded, pulling one of the tonic vials out of his pocket.

"Good. Drink up. I'm sending you into the heart of Akuma, and you're gonna need your strength. You'll find the tome at the Yamikuro Shop. As soon as you have it in hand, come straight back."

"And if the shopkeeper gives me trouble?" asked Cye.

"Hmm. Yes, good point, he might be protective of this particular piece of merchandise," Zankoku said. "Well, I suppose you'll just have to deal with it accordingly. You're a capable lad, I'm sure you can handle yourself."

Cye had grinned appreciatively at that.

"You'll do fine. Now, go on and drink that tonic," Zankoku had encouraged. "I want you in tiptop shape for this mission."

"I'll drink it on my way out," promised Cye.

"Be sure you do," said Zankoku sternly.

And so Cye had gone to the bustling business sector of Akuma City. The large afternoon crowd meant that he was subjected to hundreds of voices bombarding his head, but fortunately the tonic did manage to keep the worst of it at bay. The Yamikuro Shop was fairly easy to locate, despite being situated at the edge of a dingy alleyway. There was only one customer standing at the counter, and Cye ignored the blonde woman as he casually made his way towards the section marked "Ancient Tomes and Texts." He knew he had to be careful not to draw too much attention to himself. Scanning through the various titles on the shelves, he stopped when he came across a very old book, crafted from yellowing parchment pages and bound in cracking black leather. On the spine, written in silver ink, were the words In Teccelma ó Maranwe.

The Scroll of Destiny. Cye wasn't sure how he knew, but he was certain that was the translation.

The shopkeeper had spotted the Wicked Knight as he was making his way towards the front of the store. He is eyes lit up when he saw what Cye had in his hands. Apparently, it was the original copy of the text and therefore worth quite a lot of money. The shopkeeper had claimed to be willing to part with it for no less than five hundred thousand gold emnoy coins. Cye assumed he was referring to whatever currency was used within the Nether Realm.

Too bad for the shopkeeper he wasn't in the mood to haggle. Within minutes, Cye was walking out of the Yamikuro with the book in his possession, while the demonic shopkeeper was lying motionless in a pool of blood after having been stabbed with his own jagged dagger.

The Wicked Knight of Tsunami returned to the stronghold and went straight to the throne room. Zankoku was delighted to see him back so quickly.

"You got it. Excellent work," he said gleefully as he took the heavy tome from the youth. "There wasn't any trouble, was there? I do hope the shopkeeper was cooperative."

Cye smirked. "Oh, he won't be missing it any time soon."

Zankoku looked up at him, momentarily confused. Then, he chuckled. "What an asset you are, Cye. You really know how to take the initiative. So glad I decided to keep you around."

"I aim to please," said Cye, bowing his head at the compliments.

"Who needs Sage, anyway? I think we've established that there's only room in my organization for one Wicked Knight, and you're it."

Zankoku made his way over to the security monitor, where he pressed the button to call for one of his servants. The summons was answered right away by a Nether Spirit.

"Take this to my private study, would you? I'll take a look at them later," the demon instructed.

With a bow, the Nether Spirit collected the tome and flew out of the room. Once he was gone, Zankoku turned back to face his Wicked Knight.

"There. Now, we can move forward as scheduled," he proclaimed cheerfully. "On a more personal note, I have a gift for you."

"A gift? For what?" asked Cye curiously.

"To thank you for a job well done," Zankoku replied. "Not that I need an excuse to dote on you, of course. Close your eyes. And no peaking."

Cye obediently closed his eyes. Quickly, Zankoku returned to his throne and retrieved the item he had hidden behind it. He moved over to Cye and held it before him.

"Okay, open your eyes."

The Wicked Knight opened his eyes and gasped softly. In his lord's hands was an ornate black titanium trident.

"My liege… It's incredible," Cye said as he accepted the weapon.

"Yes, and it's powerful, too. Far stronger than that Torrent Spear of yours. I would have given it to you sooner, but we had to make sure it would be compatible with your armor," explained Zankoku.

"Lord Zankoku."

The demon looked up as Rochelle and Clara approached him.

"The kitchen staff has asked us to inform you that supper is ready, my lord," announced Rochelle.

"Perfect timing. Thank you, ladies. Cye, go put that away in your room and then come join me in the dining hall," ordered Zankoku.

What's up with her…?

Cye winced, reacting to the sudden telepathic invasion.

Just my luck I'd get stuck working with this psycho…

He noticed me…

I can't stand this dump…

How much you wanna bet she's just toying with us…

What a bitch…

I'm cold…

Why won't they stop looking at me…?

I can't stand humans…

What's with the fashion disaster over here…?

He's alright, I guess…

Looks like his spinal cord's been severed…

How deliciously horrible…

I'm not getting any warmer…

Cye groaned as the voices became an unintelligible noise again. They were getting louder. It was impossible to separate one voice from another. Male, female, it didn't seem to matter. The voices were so full of anger and hate. He closed his eyes tight and pressed his hands against the sides of his head, trying to block out the continually building choir in his mind.

It wasn't stopping. Why wasn't it stopping?

Cye cried out in agony…

… and the entire room began to quake.

Kayura spent the morning going through every scroll and text in the library, looking for everything she could find on the abilities of telepathy and empathy. It was tedious, but important work. Even the tiniest bit of information could help her teach Torrent and Halo how to control these gifts. She'd been grateful when Dais and Sekhmet came to lend a hand, shortly followed by Kale, Zion, and the other three Ronin Warriors. At one point, Zion had sent Rowen to go fetch Aiden. When the Alfirin had arrived, he informed them all that Sage was doing better than he had been only that morning. This was very promising news. Maybe the recovery period wouldn't be so bad after all.

They were getting ready to retire for the evening when the ground beneath their feet began to violently shake. They all froze right where they were, hardly daring to move.

"What is this?" asked Ryo.

"An earthquake?" suggested Kale.

"I didn't think this sector of the Nether Realm was close to any known fault lines," said Zion.

"Damn it, Hardrock! What'd you do?" demanded Sekhmet.

"Don't look at me! I'd never trigger a 7.2, not even by accident!" exclaimed Kento.

"How do you know it's magnitude?" Aiden questioned.

"The power of the Hardrock Armor. Not only can Kento cause earthquakes, but he instinctively knows how strong they are," explained Kayura.

"Everyone, just stay calm. Talpa built this castle to withstand just about anything. We're perfectly safe," Dais reassured their visitors.

"He's right," agreed Kale. "Just sit tight. I'm sure it'll be over soon."

Ryo worriedly glanced around the room, but it appeared the Warlords were right. Books and scrolls were falling off the shelves as they rattled and fell against each other, but the building itself was solid. He glanced over at the windows overlooking the lake, noting that even the glass seemed to be shatter-proof.

Wildfire was the only one facing the window. That's probably why he was the first to see it.

"Uh, guys? You might wanna have a look at this."

The others turned to look at him, then followed his wide-eyed gaze to the window. Or rather, just outside of the window.

An enormous column of water was bursting out of the lake. For a moment, they thought that there had been an explosion. It couldn't have been a result of the earthquake. But the waterspout continued to grow until it it was a massive, swirling vortex. Then, just as quickly as it had formed, it dispersed, crashing back down into the lake, and the earthquake ended.

"What the hell was that about?" demanded Sekhmet.

Aiden turned to look at the Isilwen. "Zion, was that —?"

"I doubt it. He hasn't left his domain in years," said Zion evasively.

"So, what did cause that waterspout?" wondered Kayura.

Zion frowned, but didn't say a word. She had a feeling that she knew the answer to that question. And if her suspicions were correct, then she was prepared to take the secret to her grave.

Chaos erupted the moment that the earthquake started. Zankoku, Rochelle, and Clara had been caught by complete surprise. The three barely had time to get to safety. Their stronghold wasn't nearly as fortified against these types of disasters as Talpa's castle was, and it was beginning to show. The stone floor cracked. One of the wooden beams collapsed. Windows shattered. And through it all, Cye continued to let out bloodcurdling screams.

It was several long minutes before Cye's voice faltered. He dropped to the floor, out cold. And the earth stilled, as suddenly as it had started to shake.

Zankoku moved swiftly to the teen's side and crouched down beside him.

"Damn. Remind me never to get on his bad side," quipped Clara.

"Looks like the damage is mostly cosmetic. Nothing a bit of magic can't fix," said Rochelle, taking an inventory of the room.

"He's exhausted himself," Zankoku muttered. He turned to face the two Fae. "Rochelle, send for the Nether Spirits. Have them take him to his room. Clara, go tell Melaina to make a stronger tonic. I can't have Cye losing control like that again."

Rochelle and Clara bowed quickly before obediently leaving the throne room.

As he waited for Rochelle to return with the Nether Spirits, Zankoku stared down at Cye thoughtfully. Where had that surge of power come from? It certainly hadn't been his armor. Everything he knew about the nine armors told him that it was the Hardrock that was capable of causing earthquakes, not the Torrent. No, if anything, it had been more similar to what sometimes overcame Clara. But for that to be the case, it would mean that —

And just like that, Zankoku knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what had caused the quake. He smirked. This was quite the unexpected twist, but not an unwelcome one. With that kind of force at his command, there'd be nothing anyone could do to stop Zankoku from becoming the ruler of the realms.

Finally, he was going to succeed.