NOTE:

"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking

"Charge!": special case

'Darn!': thoughts

GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

Oh by the way, the division system is based on the same system on Bleach Gotei 13.

Chapter 5:

Fruition

"Then? So you lot just walk away like some losers?" Yzak barked at the survivors.

"…I suppose…"

"What?"

"I… I mean… that would be correct, sir."

"Grah!" Yzak growled.

Dearka tapped his friend's back. "Calm down Yzak!, you're puffing smoke through your ears at this rate!"

"SHUT UP! 50 men got beaten by a squad ONE FIFTH its size! How am I supposed to report this to Veia-sama?"

"Maa… maa!" Nichol tried to calm the fuming Yzak… to little success.

Yzak turned towards the squad leader again. "And you. I gave you a specific order to report to me if you found them. WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SO?"

"We felt that… we can take em."

"Well, given your state you certainly failed to do so, right?" Dearka scoffed.

"…I have no excuses."

"You damn right you don't. You better get them ready though. I'm sending you and what's left of your men back to the main army. You'll have a good time explaining things to Lord Veia." Yzak get ready to leave.

The knight nodded. "But still…"

"What?"

"…you might want to be careful, Lord Joule. The squad's ace is not only Mwu the eagle."

"I'm well aware of that. There are also Murrue Ramias and Natarle Badgiruel, Captain and Lieutenant of the 12th division, right?"

"That… and another one."

"Who?"

"I do not know… but he took down 4 of my men single handedly… and you wouldn't take him as the warrior type either."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Now go and report to the main army."

"Yes sir." The knight excuses himself and left.

Yzak turned towards his squad. "EVERYONE! It is confirmed. That suspicious caravan IS a squad of Naturals. Thanks to those nimrods though, we're quite far behind those Naturals! Break camp and move out!"

"Yes sir!"

And the whole vanguard army march on, leaving the five bushed knights alone.

"This is a disgrace… us four got beaten by a kid!?"

"It's not a disgrace." The leader stated. "You guys are well trained… it's just… well… that kid is smarter than you."

"A natural smarter than us!?"

"God is so fickle." Just then, the old knight was engulfed in a hail of water, much to the surprise of the other knights. Once the hail of water subsided, stood before them is another person. Recognizing the said individual, the other knights hastily removed their helmets and bow, heads on the ground.

"L…L…Lord V… Veia!"

Veia nodded. "This is going to be interesting. The question is… how long would it take for the eagle to realize… he has another golden egg under his wing?"

00000000000000

"So some of those soldiers tried to get you… and you run?"

"Yes… a… apparently I lost them." Kira half lied. Well, he wasn't actually just ran, heck, he fought them! Well… if it can be called a fight.

"Well the fact that you survive that is already a good thing." Mwu smiled.

"But… those guys… seriously. They would go lengths and bounds to get us?" Milly remembered the time she was held hostage.

"That only proved rules of war doesn't mean a thing to them." Natarle stated.

"…" Kira began thinking. Truth is, with the fact he himself almost got killed and his friends' safety is at stake, he couldn't help to agree with everything Mwu had once said. Some these knights didn't follow the rules of engagement and they will kill him and his friends, given the chance. He contemplated to ask Mwu for training also, but then, the old knight's words came crashing in: "They are soldiers. In spite of everything you may have done for them, one day an order will come to them to turn against you." Kira frowned. He really couldn't believe a man like Mwu would do such a thing. Murrue and Natarle… well, they are another story entirely.

Just then, Natarle called the gang. "Well… I hope yesterday's event opened your eyes. Your training will be intensified! So ready yourself!"

Sai, Milly and Tolle also realized they just can't keep playing damsel in distress anymore. The accident with Milly had hardened their resolve. With that in mind, their "Yes, ma'am!" was one filled with conviction.

And the training progresses again. As for the caravan, they've lost one wagon. Luckily, most of the provision has been divided evenly amongst the wagons, and Kira had managed to save most of the provision from his wagon before it was burned. They've lost three men, logically speaking, that means less mouth to feed. The caravan entered a thick rain forest.

Natarle barked at Sai. "Aim their wrist! Not their hand! When you're fighting an armed soldier, aim below their wrist! There always be chinks in their armor there, and it will force your enemy to let go their weapons. Focus all your strength when you attack that point. Understand? Do it again!"

"Yes maam." Sai obediently nodded.

Kira sighed as he looked at Milly trains. She still can't throw as well as Murrue did. Something clicked in Kira's mind and before he knew it, he asked Neuman for a brush and paper, and he began drawing and scratching.

"No, no! You're doing it wrong! Here throw the shuriken like this. Don't use too much back arm movement! It ruins the trajectory!"

"But if I don't do it like that, the shuriken won't even fly!"

Kira decided that time to intervene. "Ramias-san… can you try throw the shuriken again?"

The two women looked at Kira. Murrue took note of the paper in Kira's hand. "Sure." The Captain throws another shuriken.

Kira didn't see whether the shuriken hit the target though, Kira saw Murrue's back. "I see… Milly! I get it now. Next time you throw the shuriken, try moving your shoulder back and forth."

"My shoulder?"

"Yeah." Kira tapped the back of Milly's shoulder. "When saw Ramias-san did it, I saw her backbone moved just a bit. It's more like… shooting the shuriken rather than throwing it."

"But how do I move my backbone?"

"I… don't know… Ramias-san?"

"I… well… now that you mentioned… I never realized that either. May I?" Murrue asked for Kira's papers. He looked through the writings and blinked several times. "Mwu?"

"Nanni? Nanni?" The blond man suddenly appeared right behind them.

"Mwu, take a look at this." Murrue showed him Kira's papers.

The captain looked at the content of the paper. Kira draw a rough sketches of a person looked from the side. "Well I'll be monkey's uncle… he's right."

Kira gave an "Oh?"

"My backbone did move. Thanks to lots of practices and training."

"Heee… I see…"

Mwu looked at Kira smiled. "Looks like you found another way to help us besides fighting yes?"

Kira blinked and smiled sheepishly. "I…I suppose."

And thus, the training continues, with an addition of Kira logging every activity in his journal. At night, everyone was thoroughly pleased by Kira's main dish: a Tofuu meat noodle steamboat with mushrooms and bamboo shoots! "Putting aside the fact I got lost, I managed to gather some food as in Mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Thanks to that, we have resupplied quite nicely. So eat up."

"ITADAKIMASU!!"

Soon, the whole pot was empty. Everyone rub their stomach. After the battle, a good meal is what they needed. Mwu however, only eat half of his share. Kuzzey wondered why. "Mwu-san? You didn't finish it?"

"Ah well… this is not for me." Mwu smiled sadly. Kira understandingly nodded. The captain was about to put his half eaten bowl on the makeshift grave of the three soldiers he had lost but Kira stopped him. The boy then put a full bowl of meal on the grave. Mwu smiled and patted his back in gratitude.

Everyone share a moment of silence to pray for the departed.

Later that night, everyone had fallen asleep in their wagon save for those standing guard. However, a figure sneaks out of his wagon.

"Torii?"

"Shush! Be quiet Torii! Help me will you?"

Kira's bird understood his master's need of silence and merely nodded. Torii parched itself quietly on Kira's shoulder as the boy make his way out of the wagon. Kira walked away from the caravan for some distance away from the caravan, he opened his notes and looked at the journals he had written. "Okay… let's see…first… Mwu's training program for Tolle today was… a push up while clapping hands for warm up… Nah, too noisy… I suppose push up with one hand then…"

Kira balled his fist and put his other hand on his back. "1… 2… 3… 4…" And that's how Kira began his secret training. Once it reached the number 15, he began to feel the pain. "Aiaahhh… hard to believe Tolle had to do this 50 times every morning… oh well, no pain no gain. 16… 17… 18… "

A figure who was eying Kira since he got out of the wagon smiled and left. "Ganbatte, kid."

And in a blink of an eye, 5 days has passed. Everyone's training progressing quite nicely. By day, they followed the Captains' training instruction, Kira take note of everything in his journal. During lunch and break, they would occasionally review their progress. At night, while everyone's asleep, Kira would sneak out of the caravan and practice his own training as quietly as possible. Given the fact that Kira's an advanced and in sense, stronger than naturals, the lack of sleep did little to hamper his cooking and daily activities.

"Yo, Kiddo!" One day Mwu called Tolle before they start the usual warm up. Kira was in the earshot. "Starting tonight-I mean today… I suggest you start doing push up while switching hands from left and right."

"EEEH!?"

"One hand push up has become too easy for you it seems."

"S… switching hands while doing push up?"

"And double the amount. If you're an advanced I would've asked you to do triple, but since you're natural, do double."

Kira blinked. He turned towards Mwu. The man in question did a wonderful job pretending he didn't see the shocked expression in Kira's face.

"So double… that means… 100 times?"

"Wear that weight. Oh and I kept some spare weights underneath your wagon, just in case you need some extra weight."

"No, thank you very much." Tolle groaned before he walked away, performing as he was instructed. Mwu followed his student and secretly passes a smile to his other 'student'.

'That… guy…' Kira frowned.

That night, just like Mwu had so innocently mentioned, he found another set of weights prepared for him underneath the wagon. Kira put it on and was quite surprised by how heavy it was.

"Twice the weight on your friends." A voice whispered on his ears.

"!!" Kira turned around. No one. "…get out, Mwu-san… I know it's you."

"No… I'm not Mwu la Flagga… I'm just… I'm just the voice of your conscious."

Kira sweat dropped. "…if you want to laugh about how hypocrite I am, you can go ahead and do it."

"There's nothing hypocritical about you struggling to do what you think is right. I have no reason not to help people like you."

Kira sighed. "…thanks." And the boy walked away. Once he reached the safe distance, Kira began his training again. First he did 50 times one hand push up… and then remembered he should've changed that. "Okay… switching hand push up. 1… 2… 3… 4…"

Mwu watched from afar and was pleased.

"Two students at a time?" Murrue commented.

"Why didn't he come training with us in the open?"

"It's his decision." Mwu answered. "He had blatantly stated right in front us that he will not go with our plan."

"That's why he trains like this. He took note of our training by himself, and he does it himself. No one can say that we trained him."

"…"

"Kira-kun is going to be great." Murrue smiled.

"No. He's going to be the greatest." Mwu stated confidently.

"How would you know?"

"Gut feeling!" Mwu smiled.

"Hai… hai…"

00000000000000

"GHUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"What was that!?" Yzak yelled.

Four Knights were carrying a near dead knight on a stretcher. They stopped before Yzak.

"This is the fifth person this week. Lord Joule… that man is beyond control!"

"Grhh…take him to the infirmary!"

"Yes sir!" the knights run past Dearka, who had just arrived.

"Him again?"

"Yes." Yzak groaned. They went to the direction where the knights came and arrived before a small iron cage.

"Gha… Ghuaaaa…"

Dearka gulped. "Are you sure he's…?"

"Believe me. The best medics in the entire empire had look into him… there's no curing him."

Just then, someone, or something, banged itself on the cage. The figure was bind in an impossibly large chains and cuffs. The person's body was shrouded in darkness, but his eyes are pale white. Saliva pouring out endlessly from his mouth.

"Grhh… Grhh…"

"Seriously… should we really bring him along?"

"It's an order."

"But thanks to him, we've been delayed for a few days! If it weren't for him, we would've been on our way home by now! Let's be done with him and end his misery!"

"We have no choice. Look at him. He's gone mad, that's true… but the doctors said there's nothing they can do… and he wants to fight badly."

Dearka looked at the figure. It let out another roar.

"Grhh… GRUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"

00000000000000

"1, 2, 3!"

"HA!"

"4, 5, 6!"

"HA!"

"KICK!"

"HA!"

"1, 2, 3!"

As Natarle tapped her staff on the ground in rhyme with her shouting, Sai followed the instruction and performed several stances according to the numbers. Natarle smiled seeing her student performed all movements perfectly.

Tolle performed several roundhouse kicks. Mwu smiled. "Now!"

"YOOOSHH! Senpuu Kyaku!" Tolle performed another incredibly powerful kick, so powerful, it create a gust of wind.

The Captain was pleased. "Nice wind."

Murrue was sipping a cup of tea and Milly was waiting with her eyes blind folded. Murrue grabbed a wood and throw it to the air. The next instance, Milly easily throw one shuriken after another to the said wood.

Murrue catch it and look at the results.

Milly opened her blindfold and smiled as the Captain gave her thumbs up.

At dinner, the three went to Kira, asking for a review.

"Nothing." Kira closed his journal. "Seriously… from what I see, there's no error in what you've done. You need to learn new technique."

"Heee…" The triplets are quite pleased with themselves.

"But still…" Mwu suddenly started. Everyone turned towards the Captain. "Doing this while training is one thing. Doing it in real combat… now that's hard."

"Then… what should we do?"

"Tomorrow, you'll have a mock fight with us."

"Mock training?"

"That means, you guys will be fighting against me."

"EEH?"

"There's no way we can win."

"Of course not. That's why it's called mock fighting." Mwu stated matter of fact-ly.

"Don't worry. We won't hurt you, much." Murrue smiled.

The triplets gulped.

Later that midnight…

His friends were not the only one who had made progress. Kira slowly breathe in and out. And then he began. First he performed Sai's stances several times, and then followed quickly by Tolle's kicks, and finally, when he performed the senpuu kyaku, the wind was so powerful, leaves got blown off by the wind. As an ending, Kira throw several branches straight at a nearby tree hole. The brunette calmed his breathing and look at himself. '…not good… each of it are good… but… they're still separate skills…' The boy sits on the ground. 'Natarle-san's technique are for ground fighting and defense, Ramias-san's shuriken throwing are for long range, and finally, Mwu-san's technique… they're quick and powerful… good for beating the enemy before they attack. But no good… those three techniques are worlds apart in term of its use.' "Haaa… I guess I'm just stupid… thinking I can learn them all just because I'm an advanced…"

Just then, someone came approaching from behind. Kira gasped and immediately hid his weights. It was… Mwu?"

"Yoo… Ki…raaaaa… Hic!"

"Hic?" Kira gulped.

"Nice niiiight! Hic!"

"Mwu-san… could it be… YOU'RE DRUNK!?"

"Heeeeeeh? What's wrooong with thaaaaaat, aaaaaaaaaaaaaH?"

"A soldier went drunk? What kind of discipline is that? And you're a captain for god's sake!"

"Stop talking like a certain blockhead."

Somewhere in the caravan, Natarle sneezed.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh…" Mwu rested his back on the grass right beside Kira. The brunette frowned. The man smells of… sake. "Want some?"

"Hiyaa! I'm underage! Mwu-san!"

"Just a sip! HERE YOU GO!"

"No I-glup!"

"THERE! Hoooow its tasteeee?"

"Kinda weird… but it's warm…"

"That's because we drink it right on time!"

"Eh?"

"At summer you eat unagidon, at winter you eat hot ramen."

"I'm not sure I'm following…"

"AAAhhh? Yoooou still don't geeet it!? Then have some moooooore!"

"No more-gulp!"

"There? How is it feel?"

"Henna… but… oishi…"

"Desshou? Sake is nice when you drink it once it's fermented at the right time!"

"Eeehhh… sokana…"

"Ja… I'm going to drink somewhere else!"

"No… no… Pore-san! Don't leave again!"

"Hoe…? Pore-san?"

"We got lots of customers! Don't you dare to think of leaving?"

"C… Customers? You're drunk already?"

"Drunk? No way… hic! I just drink two sips… Or not… I'm underage… soka… Sai, help me… Kuzzey drop that Sake now! Tolle! I'm telling it to Milly! Drop that sake! You're all underage!" And Kira was barking to three innocent trees.

"He's drunk! But… it's kinda amusing to watch…"

The next morning…

Kira and Mwu were holding their temples as the worst hangover from hell had come knocking their door.

"You're drinking sake… this I can forgive… BUT YOU GAVE SAKE TO UNDERAGE!?" Natarle roared.

The two gritted their teeth as all hell broke loose in their heads. "Okay… okay! I understand… but keep the noise down!"

Kira always heard the word hangover… but this is truly the first time he experienced it. 'My head… but still… last night… what was it that Mwu-san said: at summer you eat unagi… hot season you eat ice… what?' "Graaaahh…" This is his first hangover and his head ache so much, he couldn't even drive the wagon properly and thus Neuman took the job.

"But still… Kira… what on earth have you been doing?" Milly pondered.

"What do you mean?"

"Nowadays… you seem a bit… exhausted." Tolle also wondered.

"What?"

"Here, look at yourself." Kuzzey gave Milly's handy mirror to Kira. The brunette looked at himself. Eye bags began to form underneath his purple eyes and his hair is a mess… well, his hair is always a mess. But he had to admit it: he looked like crap.

"You would look like this… if you got a ramen glutton to feed." Kira moaned.

"Ramen glutton?" The gang echoed.

Kira hold his aching temple with one hand while jerked his other thumb to the groaning Mwu. Everyone sweat dropped.

Finally, Tolle and Sai ganged up against Natarle, while Milly had to fight Murrue alone. Mwu and Kira had to watch the fight while compressing their head.

"Say, Kiddo."

"Hm?"

"How long have you been living with Paul?"

"Who's Paul?"

"Paul Wong… argh… I mean Pore."

"Pore-san… 2 years."

"And what have you guys been doing in the last two years?"

"Cooking."

"Paul taught you that?"

"Yes. He taught me a lot of things. How to cook, how to do the trade…"

"To fight?"

"…never. He did things weird though. He gave me some weight on my arms to train for pan. Yes. Kinda like you. But yours are heavier."

"I see… how was it? Training with him?"

At this Kira made a face. "My friends had it easy… you don't throw chef knives every time you make the simplest of mistake do you?"

Mwu sweat dropped. "It's a miracle no one died…"

"If he can work me 24/7 he will! He's just that… inhuman, sadistic of a…"

"-greedy cheapskate." The two echoed each other. The man and the boy looked at each other and chuckled and laughed. But their laughter made their head ache and so they stopped.

"…you know of Pore-san before he was what he is?"

Mwu nodded. "He was my senpai. Initially, we all know him as the Captain of the 4th Second Vanguard squad division. As a Captain he also holds the position of the chef. I was only a lowly 12th seat at the time… Murrue was a newcomer at 20th seat and Natarle was 19th seat. He took good care of us."

"…I don't get it."

"Okay… allow me to explain." Mwu grabbed a pen and start drawing diagram on Kira's journal.

"Basically, there are thirteen divisions in the whole army. Each division had its own purpose:

First Squad: Central Command

Second Squad: First Vanguard

Third Squad: Supplies and Provision

Fourth Squad: Second Vanguard

Fifth Squad: First Navy

Sixth Squad: Cavalry

Seventh squad: First Army

Eight squad: Medic

Ninth squad (that's me!): Spying, Intelligence gathering, and information processing

Tenth squad: Regular army

Eleventh squad: Second Navy

Twelfth squad: Artillery

Thirteenth squad: Internal Affairs

Each squad is led by a captain and a lieutenant. The First squad receives orders from the Five. Which in turn distribute the order to all squad Captains. And that's all in the nutshell. Simple, no?"

"What's with the seats and all that?"

"The seats signify level of authority and skill. The smaller the number, the better you are. First and second belong to the captain and the lieutenant. Third seat means you're the strongest amongst the underlings."

"Right…"

"…ten years ago, Paul Lei Wong… or Pore as you know him, resigns from his position after an accident 'which' according to official statement, cost him the use of his right leg. But as we all find out it was just one big fat lie."

"Why would he lie though?"

"No idea. What I do know was… shortly after that, I was moved to the 7th, and I was recommended as the 9th division captain."

"I see. And this guy, Lewis 'Iron Wall' Harlbarton…"

"When I was moved to the 7th Division, I was on 11th seat. Served under him for 2 years, and then got promoted to Captain."

"Eleventh seat becomes a Captain?"

"Heh, how do you like me now?"

"…Seriously… how did those guys pick their captain?"

"Don't be a smart ass now you lit'l-"

Their conversation was cut short when a soldier came running at him. Panic written all over his face. "S… s…"

"Jacky… Catch your breath boy."

"S-Sir! Zaft knights! Hundreds of them! Just a few kilometers away."

Mwu looked at the soldier then to Kira.

"Don't look at me, I didn't go anywhere today. I was drunk, remember?"

"Riiiight… Jacky, call everyone. Issue general alert. Battle station."

"B… But we're outnumbered!"

"We'll fight them still… we fight… to run."

"Y… yes sir! B… BAT-" Before Jacky could yell, Mwu hurriedly muffled him.

"Alert them… quietly."

00000000000000

Back to the Zaft Vanguard…

"Lord Joule! Shiho's squad have found them." A messenger reported to the silver haired boy.

"Tell her to continue following them, and do not… I repeat… DO NOT engage the enemy without the main force."

"Yes sir." The messenger immediately dashed away.

"MOVE IT MEN! PICK UP THE PACE!! OUR ENEMY IS BEFORE OUR VERY NOSES!"

Glad they'll get to fight something, the army cheered.

Nichol approach Yzak. "What should we do with him?" The boy was referring to the man in the cage.

"…leave him here. We cannot afford to lose those naturals again. We will come back for him later."

The green haired boy nodded.

Not a moment too soon, the main army had rendezvous with Shiho's squad. They were in a forest.

"Knight! Report!" Yzak barked.

A girl with a long brown hair and a hairstyle similar to Yzak answered. "Y-Yes sir. Shiho Hahnenfuss reporting… umm… the Caravan stopped and we've been observing them for a while… they've done nothing… yet."

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing?'

Shiho gestured her Senior to look. Yzak bent down and look to the direction pointed.

He saw the caravan had decided to set up camp. Some soldiers were spinning a piece of meat on the fire. Mwu and Kira were still lying half conscious on the wagon. Murrue and Natarle are still practicing with the kids.

"I see… very well… then… Hmm?" Yzak looked at the boy beside Mwu. "…that boy. I want him alive."

"That boy sir?"

"The one lying next to Mwu la Flagga! I want him alive."

"Yes sir… may I ask why?"

"You want to know who's responsible for our loss in Amaterasu?"

Shiho gulped. Satisfied that his junior silently agree with him, Yzak began issuing orders. "Right. Shiho, take your squad, cover the left flank. Dearka cover the right. Nichol sneak right behind them! I'll go straight from the front. We'll surround them from all directions. Now go."

"Wait… Yzak… something's not right." Nichol frowned.

"What do you mean not right?"

"I see the wagon… but where are the horses to pull the wagon?"

"What?" Yzak blinked. He looked again, and Nichol was right. Where are the horses? "…and they don't seem to notice that?"

"…could it be that… they're using the horses to send out riders, asking for reinforcements from fort Archangel?" Dearka theorizes.

"It's possible." Yzak agrees. "They stayed here because they were waiting. We'll just have to destroy them before then."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Dearka grinned. A good chance to test out their new weapons. "Nichol, you use your weapon too. Unless I'm mistaken, the power of your armaments was created just for that purpose no?"

"Yes." Nichol still look somewhat unconvinced… there's something else is wrong and he just couldn't put his finger on it. Unable to discern any proof, the boy finally decided to go on with Yzak's plan. "I'll use it."

"Rusty and Miguel's vengeance is here!" Yzak raised his sword. The edge shaped like a trident and the color was semi ocean blue transparent.

The four spread out. Yzak waited impatiently on his position.

Shiho quickly make her way to the left flank. Dearka get to the right flank. The boy excitedly grabbed his weapon, a pair of oversized Tonfa. Nichol, before he went to his position, equipping himself with a set of gauntlets and greaves, as well as a mask. The armaments are mostly black and spiky in design, and both hands and legs are clawed. "Let's go."

Slowly but sure, Nichol and his men reached their position. That's when he starts noticing another oddity. If he remembered correctly, the girl was throwing a bunch of star-like blades at a piece of wood thrown to the air by Murrue Ramias. How come, after so many stars, the girl have yet to run out of blades, nor requesting a new batch? Another oddity is that, Natarle and two other boys were basically doing the same movement, over and over again. 'Something's not right… something's DEFINITELY not right…'

Yet, it was too late to call off the plan, and thus after he reached his position, he reluctantly gave out the signal. The signal's received by Yzak, who gladly yelled "CHARGE!"

The army burst out of the woods from every direction. Ready to tear their enemy limb to limb… only to find out there's no enemy to tear. The four squads converge in an empty camp.

"What the…"

"Where did everybody go?" Dearka blinked.

Yzak blinked several times as if trying to confirm he wasn't dreaming. The moment they arrived at the base, everything has… vanished. It was as if there's no one there in the first place. Don't know what to do with the empty camp Yzak issue "Search the place."

Nichol looked around searching for clues. Everybody saw people walking talking in the camp… and then they just vanished… Just then, he saw it: a string. It was very thin, people would barely notice it. He began tracing the string. It stretched from the spot where he just came!

"We found one!" A knight yelled.

Everyone turned to the said voice except Nichol.

A knight found a man dressed in Alliance soldier standard samurai armor and he was gasping for breath. Dying. Yzak approach the said man. He was bleeding to death from the open wound on his stomach.

Yzak looked at the man and frowned. "Get him up, and force him talk."

It was then everything clicked together in Nichol's head. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Too late, the knight touched the soldier's armor, and the next thing happened: the body exploded, taking out every knight in vicinity.

Nichol knew the worse has yet to come. Why did they bother setting such an elaborate camp? Why did they leave the caravan without the horse? "STAY AWAY FROM CARAVAN! THERE' ARE EXPL-"

Before Nichol could finish his sentence, the tent exploded, throwing him off his feet, following, both caravans exploded with an even greater magnitude.

Some distance away, Mwu smirked as he heard the explosions and dropped his disguise. He took off the string tied to his finger and quickly ran away, catching up with the caravan that already went ahead. The soldiers had put everything on horseback, and they were walking.

"Seeing that smile of yours I suppose we have a big catch this time around?" Murrue sighed.

"They better be… you blow off our tent and both of our caravan for that little Genjutsu trick of yours."

"Details, details. Who needs them? And besides, that caravan was for disguise purpose only. In reality we only need the horses." Mwu's grin can't get any wider.

Back to the Zaft army…

Yzak gritted his teeth at the sight of the inferno blazing in front of him. It was beyond outrage. The repetitive explosion killed off most of his men. His fist clenched on his sword so tight, it bleeds. Some knights were screaming as every part of their body was on fire. Just then, the ground next to him cracked open, and Dearka burst out from the ground. "I can't believe they used the same trick twice."

"That's why it's mortifying that we fell for it both times." Beads of water starting to appear around the furious boy. With one stroke of the sword, a large burst of water exploded all around him, putting out the fire. But unfortunately the damage has been done. Only less than a quarter of his vanguard army is battle capable. The rest were either burned to death or half burned. "SHIHO!"

"Y… Yes?" The girl gasped.

"Get the wounded back to the main army… the rest of you COME WITH ME!" Yzak roared. 'I swear when I get my hands on them, I'll have their flash flayed off to the inch of their miserable lives…'

Meanwhile, Mwu and his men had left the forest into an open field.

"Actually, just how much further it is to Archangel?" Kuzzey pant and gasped.

"I don't know… but if this map is correct… we already covered about three quarter of the trip." Mwu looked at the map depicting their journey. 16 days of travelling. And according to the map, they need only to enter an open field, travel some distance and enter another forest which encircle the fortress. That should be… another 4 days of trip at their current speed.

"Kira! Come here for a minute."

Kira came and the man showed him the map. "Unless I'm wrong, we can finally reach our destination in 4 days… you think our supply could make it?"

"…" Kira looked at the provision. Back in the forest, he didn't have time to gather extra food. Also, to perform Mwu's trick, the supplies must be put on horseback. But there isn't enough room for it, and thus they had to leave some behind. The boy shook his head. "There won't be enough."

Mwu nodded understandingly. "Oh well, if we're running out of food we can always eat the horses."

Kira turned to Mwu and gave him the look. "Eat the horse?"

"Yeah! Don't you know? Horse made a very fine meal."

"I'll ration our supplies and see if I can make something works. Hold your horses until then." Kira sighed. This man's attitude seriously resembles his old boss in a way.

Mwu chuckled. But just then, his chuckle stopped. His sharper than usual ears caught something. A rumbling sound. Mwu turned around and pressed his ears on the ground. Murrue noticed the sudden behavior and realized something's wrong. "Mwu?"

"…ready yourself. Everyone! Battle station!"

The soldiers tensed.

"How many?"

"…15-20 at least." Mwu unsheathe his kodachi. "Ready your armors. No more disguise."

The soldiers nodded and undo their merchant disguise. Within moments, everyone had put on some light armor and unsheathe their Katana. Jacky and Neuman gave a piece of light armor and a katana to the kids. "Stay low… and only attack when you're attacked."

"Nah… they'll kill us just the same. We'll fight with you." Tolle stated bravely.

Neuman smiled. "Honored to fight with you."

Kira frowned. Neuman then handed him a two piece of armor. Kira nodded understandingly and gave one to Kuzzey, who was trembling in fear. "Mwu-san… can we not outrun them?"

"I got a good measure on their pace as they were chasing kiddo… and believe me… when you're being chased by a bunch of pissed off knights… I seriously doubt we can outrun them."

Just then, a figure appeared out of the forest and stood on a rock. The figure was clad in a blue colored Knight armor. The armor is decorated in nautical design such as fins and scales and he was carrying a trident edged ornamental sword. Followed behind him, a knight clad in brown heavy armor carrying a pair of large ornamented tonfas appeared on the scene and out of nowhere; a black knight, relatively smaller than the other two appeared out of thin air. And finally, one by one, a few dozen average Zaft knights, armed to teeth walked out of the forest, ready to kill.

"Where the hell have you been, Nichol!?" Yzak growled.

"I got knocked unconscious. Sorry." The small black knight that is Nichol bent his head down.

"Don't give me that lame-ass 'sorry' shit! Just do what you have to and kill them all!"

"Okay…"

"LET'S HEAR EM BOYS! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Kill! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!" The whole army followed suit as they banged their shields and swords to the ground.

The sound reached the Alliance soldiers. Some of them were somewhat unnerved by the roar. This army is angry. Very, VERY angry. They must show no mercy… for they will be given none.

Murrue gazed on the enemy's troops, in particular, those who lead them. She gasped at a realization. "Mwu… the ones leading them!"

"I know!"

"Grhh… to think we'll have to fight our own weapons…" Natarle groaned.

Sai looked at the army. "I pick their number around 30…"

"30? But… we got attacked by 50 people before… and we won didn't we?" Tolle prepared himself. Time to show if all those trainings were a waste.

"Yes. But I also caught sight of commander units… this is bad… this might be just what Mwu-san had shown us: a situation where the seated officers will be too busy to protect us."

"In short, we're on our own…" Milly tensed.

Kira frowned. Numbers aside, their situation were pretty grim. 'What should I do?'

Kuzzey was trembling in fear. He didn't realize he had wetted himself on his pants.

"KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!" The tension is ready to explode as the yell of the knights reached its peak.

Yzak raised his sword.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!"

And with that yell, the dams of battle are broken. 30 knights all charged into the battlefield.

"Frontal attack will be suicide." Natarle stated the obvious.

"Does it look like we had any other choice?" Mwu readied his body and his mettle. "It's an honor to do battle with you."

"The honor's mine."

Mwu looked at his men. They all realized there's no way around it.

"ATTAAAAACK!"

The Alliance soldiers, starving and impossibly outnumbered charged forward. Sai, Milly, and Tolle also charged forward. Kira himself knew that his friends had decided to go up front, but he's still shocked regardless. His ear went deaf. His eyes turned wide. The yells and cries of the soldiers seem only apparently in their gaping mouth. In an instant, before it began, he saw images. Tolle impaled on a dozen swords, Sai beheaded, and Milly was raped before she was given her mercy of death. And the heads of the three alliance officers were put on a spit. Kira don't know whether the images are real or not… but it gave him an instant of clarity. 'That's right… this is what I've been doing all this time…'

The two army clashes and someone seemingly had just turned the volume back up. The Alliance soldiers were quickly overwhelmed. In a blink of an eye, two soldiers had already been killed.

"Ei!" Milly began throwing shurikens and Kunai at the Zaft Knights. When some who finally noticed her attempt to charge at her, Sai and Tolle stood firm and block the way. When the knight tried to attack them with his sword, Sai quickly disarm him and Tolle landed a roundhouse kick on the knight's unprotected area: the neck.

Neuman and Jacky managed to stand their ground by working together with the other soldiers. But it is only a matter of time until their stamina gave up on them.

Kira's eyes are now filled with conviction. He now knows what he had to do. "Kuzzey, stay here, and DON'T go anywhere."

Kira rummaged the stuff in his horse, took a few things… and then he noticed a Katana. Without thinking, he grabbed it.

"Stay here! I'll be back! I promise!"

Apparently, the boy was too scared and confused to even notice anything. And with that, Kira took his leave.

Meanwhile, the battle finally begins. Mwu make a short work on several knights when his main enemy appeared. The Aquatic Knight. "RAAAAAAAAHH!" The blue knight smashed his sword on Mwu's Nodachi. The power weren't all that great, but suddenly water burst out of the sword, lashing him away.

Mwu landed with a thud and looked at the sword in the knight's hand. "Ocean Dragon Fang, Ryujinzan…"

"That's right. You naturals make quite an outrageous weapon. Appropriate that I will kill you with it! ORYAAAA!" Yzak stabbed the blond ninja, but the man rolled to the side and kicked him squarely on the face. Enraged even further, the Water Soldier charged again.

Murrue was having a difficult time dealing with the black knight. "Blitz Gauntlet and Greaves… capable of total stealth and soundless move…"

"That's right. But I've added something to it too." Nichol's voice echoed throughout the air. Murrue readied her spear. As expected, an attack came. It hit her squarely on her back. The woman quickly swung her spear in a roundhouse arc at the direction where the attack's coming. Surprisingly, her spear hits nothing.

'Kuso… this might be more difficult than I imagined…'

"DORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Dearka swung his tonfa and slammed it to the ground, creating a huge shockwave towards Natarle. The Lieutenant immediately jumped to the side, avoiding the blast when suddenly a hail of bullets welcomed her. Dearka yelled in ecstasy. "WHOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO! I COULD GET USED TO THIS! HAHA!" Bullets burst out from the shorter ends of the double Tonfa.

Much to Dearka's surprise though, the Lieutenant managed to block all the bullets by spinning her morning star in front of her. All the bullets drop harmless to the ground in front of Natarle. "Dragon Busting Staff shouldn't have fallen to a person like you."

"Well… the fact is, I'm using it right now…" Dearka spin his smoking Tonfa-gun before connecting both shorter ends into a long staff. "And I tell you…"

Natarle's eyes widened as the earth Knight aimed the staff at her. A large hole can be seen on both ends of the staff. It wasn't a staff… it was a hand held CANNON!

"I LOVE THIS SHIT!" and with that, the trigger happy knight pushed the button, and with a thunderous sound, the shot was fired. The large bullet missed Natarle's hair by an inch. Unfortunately, it hit one of Mwu's men, taking a quarter part of the poor soldier's body with it as the bullet went through him, travelled for another few kilometers, hitting the ground, creating a 5 meters diameter crater.

The sight of Dearka's weapon was enough to send the Alliance Soldiers' morale plummeting down to a dangerous level.

"H… how are we going to fight something like THAT!?" Tolle gulped. He almost forgot to dodge when a knight was about to cut his head. He immediately counter with his leg, but forgot one important rule: never hit the armor. The pain came crushing down on his legs. "Itai!"

"Heh!" The knight attempting to slash the downed boy.

"Oryaaa!" Sai quickly rammed himself unto the Knight, and pushed him to the ground.

Before they can do anything further though, a scream from Milly brought their attention. She was surrounded by three knights and she's run out of weapons to throw. "TOLLEEEE! HELP MEEEEEEE!"

"MILLY!"

Before the knights can do their deed though, a black shadow suddenly appeared right before them, and in one swift roundhouse kick, they were all sent flying. The trio blinked.

The figure was dressed in a baggy black Ninja yukata. His face was hard to make out as it was covered it a makeshift black mask, a black long head band tied on his forehead and a katana rested on his back. His dark brown hair can be seen flowing though.

"Whoa… he just kicked… three knights all at once?"

The ninja stood cooly against the blowing wind… until… "…ouch."

"Huh?" The trio blinked.

The ninja fell to his knees and hold his aching leg. Everyone can see the ninja was gritting his teeth behind his mask, trying as hard as he could not to scream. The trio had to sweat drop at the sudden change to the uncoolness. After he overcomes his pain, the ninja stood back up and helped Milly back on her feet. The girl gulped and immediately ran to her boyfriend's side. The ninja then spoke in a silent whispery voice: "Remember your training. Remember what you have gone through. Stay focused. Don't let their number scares you."

Just then, the three knights began to come to. Tolle immediately kicked the knight on his neck, Sai landed an elbow, and Milly grabbed a knight's shield and slammed it on the third knight.

The ninja nodded. "Good. Now come. We got a battle to win."

The trio began to regain their confidence. The four charged to the battlefield. Tolle and the Ninja announce their re-arrival with a flying kick on a knight's head. It practically knocked the knight unconscious.

"Hoo-HAAA!" Tolle began sending one roundhouse kick after another, bewildering his opponent. Once he saw an opening, the boy sent a powerful: "Senpuu KYAKU!" The kick landed on the knight's neck, sending him spinning off his feet. The opponent landed with a thud, fainted on the spot. "Whoa… I did that? I really did THAT!? WHOOOHOOO!"

Sai grab hold of a knight's sword and slammed it to his knee. The knight was forced to drop his weapon. Enraged, the warrior engaged the boy in a hand to hand combat. But the boy simply parried all his punches and even counterattack by sending an uppercut right underneath the helmet. It's not enough for a knockout, but the enemy still feels the pain no less. Then again, so does Sai's fist. 'What the hell is his jaw made off?' The boy quickly sent a kick to the knight's head, knocking the helmet away. Revealing the man's face, which, is… well… quite ugly. The bespectacled boy sent another roundhouse kick, unfortunately, to little to no effect.

The man smirked. "It's not even itch!"

Sai groaned. Just then: "Senpuu Kyaku!" The Ninja delivered a near identical kicking technique with Tolle to the man's head. A sickening crack can be heard the moment the kick landed. It instantly throws the man off the ground, spinning several times and landed with a thud, head first. Bubbles appearing on his thick lips.

The trio gulped. Just how powerful that kick was?

The appearance of the new eye catching warrior draws the attention of the other knights and they began gathering around the Ninja.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" Yzak roared as Mwu eluded him yet again.

"Geezes… aren't you supposed to be the water soldier? How come you have such a volcano like temper?"

"SHUT UP!!" Yzak was enraged even further.

'My, my… this guy was so angry… there's no challenge in him anymore… hm?' Mwu looked at the battlefield and realized there's a new development. 'That… ninja…'

Being surrounded, the Ninja began to run out of room for maneuvering fast. "Senpuu Kya-" Before he could finish a knight grabbed his leg and threw him off. Another immediately charged at him. The Ninja grabbed a shield and throw it. Alas, the knight simply smashed through it and quickly decked him on the gut. "GAH!"

"What's wrong? Is that all you can do?"

'This is bad…'

"OI! Kage!"

"Huh?"

"KAGEEE! OI!"

'Was he calling for me?' Kira turned to Mwu.

"Kage! Calm down!"

"Wait Kage… you mean me?" The ninja pointed at himself.

"When it's summer what do you eat?"

"What?"

"When it's winter what do you eat?"

"Mwu-san! This is not the time for food!" The ninja narrowly dodged a stab on his head.

"This is the ONLY time! Answer it! Otherwise we're all dead!"

"Aaaargh… what was it you said…Summer you eat Unagidon! Winter you eat… eat… errrr… Ramen!"

"Correct! Now imagine people defending you as summer, the Unagidon is your Senpuukyaku!"

"Huh?"

"Just DO IT!" Mwu dodged a water burst shot by an angry Yzak.

"What's with… oh HELL!" The ninja charged towards a knight, who immediately defends. 'Defend… summer… unagidon… senpuukyaku… does he mean… use senpuukyaku at a defending opponent?' "SENPUU KYAKU!!" The Ninja performed the incredibly powerful spinning kick. At the last moment before he performed it, he found a chink on the knight's knee. Instinctively, he aimed the Senpuukyaku at that spot. The attack hit… and the result was devastating to say the least.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"

The ninja's eyes widened. That scream was abnormal. Upon closer observation, the ninja understood the reason completely. He had kicked the knight's bone OFF its socket, literally! The knight holds his disjointed leg painfully which is now dangling aimlessly.

'Hah? My kick was… that powerful?'

Tolle, who saw the kick, gaped. 'And I thought my kick was good…'

The other knight charged at him angrily.

The ninja immediately prepared to act. Just then, Mwu yelled another instruction.

"Opponent charging at you is winter! So eat ramen or miso soup!"

'Ramen? Miso soup? Does he mean… Natarle's Defensive stances and Murrue's long range attacks!?' The ninja turned his stance into one that is similar with Sai's. Much to the surprise of the other practitioner of the stance. The knight tried to stab him, but the ninja quickly grabbed the man's wrist and forcibly smash it to his knee, forcing the man to drop his sword. At the corner of his eye, the ninja saw another one coming. 'Eat some Miso Soup!' The ninja grabbed the man's sword, and as he moved his shoulder back and forth, 'shoot' the sword with such speed and force, the knight didn't have time to react, and it hit him squarely on his shoulder. The force is still enough to force him to back off a few steps and fell to the ground.

Sai and Milly gaped seeing how their techniques performed with devastating effectiveness. The ninja, on the other hand, looked surprised at his achievements. The knight whom his hand he held tightly tried to break free. The ninja immediately let go, realizing his strength is not enough to hold the hand for long. The knight immediately took some distance. The ninja looked at him and realized: 'Defensive movements… Unagidon!' "SENPUUKYAKU!!" The first roundhouse kick sweep the man's leg off the ground, and before the knight could hit the ground, the ninja's second senpuukyaku followed, hitting him squarely underneath his armpit, sending the knight spinning wildly away.

The ninja looked at his hands in disbelief. He took down three knights! Only two weeks ago he was running for his dear life from even one of them! 'This is… me?'

"Do you get it? Kage? Why my sake is delicious!?"

'Kage' looked at Mwu. '…I see… I see… so that's how it is… that's how it is!!' The ninja nodded. 'That's right, eat the right food at the right season, use the right skill at the right circumstances… that's how you use multiple fighting style in conjunction!'

"Ja! Countin' on you!" Mwu concentrated at the foe at hand. Yzak for a moment found himself distracted at the sudden entrée.

'An ace which you wouldn't take for a warrior type… that guy!?'

Kage looked around the battlefield. Every knight's eyes had turned on him. He took a deep breath, and entered his battle stance.

"KILL HIM!!"

"UOOOHHH!!" Two largest of all knights charged in at him in unison.

The ninja gulped. Those two knights were twice the size of a normal knight, at least! He was about to take a step back, when suddenly, it was Natarle's turn to give him instruction.

"KAGE! DON'T PANIC! LOOK CAREFULLY!"

"Huh?"

"Look! Their speed is different! Even though they charged in together, eventually only one will come at you! See calmly which one, and then defend yourself properly!"

Kage stand his ground and look calmly. One knight runs ahead of the others, but he didn't pull his sword. Instead, the one behind him had his sword at the ready. 'Then!'

As expected, the first knight stopped, and the second knight behind him charged forward. Sword at hand.

At that moment, three techniques, three fighting philosophy merged into one and formed an entirely new fighting style.

"Raaaah!" Instead of defending, the ninja charged forward. Accurately, he punched the knight's wrist, forcing him to let go of his sword (Natarle's disarming technique).

Then, he stepped on the knight's arm with his left foot and gave him a half spin roundhouse kick (Mwu's senpuukyaku) right on the head with his right leg.

Before the knight topple down, the right foot stepped on the knight's right shoulder. The ninja let go of the sword right in front of him, and then he circle his entire body counter clockwise with the right leg as the axis, and hit the butt of the sword with a left straight kick. It shoots the sword in a blinding velocity (Murrue's long range attacks), went through the knight's shield and nailed him to the ground.

All this happening in a split short of two seconds. By the time it was over, the two giants of a knight fell to the ground with the small ninja standing victoriously on top of one. No one understood what happened.

Mwu was the only one, being a trained ninja, was able to follow the movement in every detail. '…my… god… that… kid…'

The ninja pants and gasps. He stepped away from the knight's body. "Sugi wa… dare? (Who's next?)"

Kage found himself surprised. He never imagined he could utter such daring words. Just then, he heard a boy whistle.

"Phew… cool beats!" It was the Earth Knight Dearka. The knight walked calmly at his direction. Strangely, the tall grasses around him fell flattened to the ground as he walked, as if they're being pressed by something heavy. "Never imagined there's another guy like you… well, at least this battle is getting more interesting." The earth knight pointed both of his Tonfa gun at Kage and began firing.

"Kuso yarou!" Kage ran to the side as the hailstorm of bullets kept chasing him. The ninja checked his pocket and see any armament he had. Kage immediately shoot out a few shurikens.

"AMAI!" Dearka shoot the shuriken down midair. "Don't think of me as the same with those emerald knights! We are the Elemental Knights! We are the elite squad! Compared to those giants you took down, our levels are worlds apart!"

The bullets just keep coming and show no sign of it to end. The Ninja had no chance to retaliate.

"HAHAHAHA!! DOUSHITE? Where is your fighting prowess you showed me? HAAA?"

Just then, a Morningstar smashed into his head and cracked the knight's helmet. "Hm?" For a moment, Dearka stops firing, picked the Morningstar off his face and looked at the attacker. It was Natarle. The alliance soldier was shocked upon looking at his face. A teenager with tanned skin and blonde hair. A teenager! Kage and Kira's gang were also shocked. The boy is no older than them!

"You… hag…" Dearka growled in anger. He gripped the Morningstar tightly and threw it back at Natarle, twice the speed the Lieutenant could throw. It hit her squarely on her stomach, forcing her to throw up. "There. I have no more business with you so sit there and wait!"

Kage was perplexed. How is he supposed to fight this guy? His weapon is a long range weapon. His weapon is… the ninja blinked. He still has his katana… no good… still close range attack. What to do?

"Now then… where were we?" Dearka grinned sadistically. The ninja looked at the grass around him… it was quite tall… about his waist. Suddenly he had an idea and a realization. "Come on! Run! Let's play!"

Kage smiled behind his mask. Sink or swim. This is it. He only had one shot at this.

Dearka groaned. "What's so funny? Haaa?" The earth knight took a shot, but the ninja disappeared into the grasses. "Hoo… hide and seek? Tch… boring…"

Just then, a shuriken flew at him. The blonde shoot it down. At the same time, Kage run at him, while continuously maintaining his low altitude. He immediately throws another shuriken and again they were shot down.

"What's with this guy? You think you can use these star blade weapon and the high grass to make a sneak attack on me? Get real!" Dearka had just shot another set of shuriken, when suddenly, Kage jumped out of the grass to the air, welcomed by one bored Dearka on the ground. His bored expression suddenly turned into a 'screw you' smile.

As soon as Kage's body is right on top of Dearka, he suddenly felt as if a bunch of weight had come crashing down upon every inch of his body. 'W… what?' The ninja's body instantly fell down. Dearka smirked as he stabbed the long end of his tonfa on the falling Ninja's stomach, hanging him there. "Surprised? This is my bloodline limit: Juryookukai (Gravity Field). You see… I can control gravity at will."

"Grhhh…" The shinobi groaned in pain. While he was being held there on the staff, his arms and legs felt as if it was being pulled down.

"Hurt? Well… it better be. Cause you're in a 10G area, baby. Everything in this area is 10 times heavier than normal… that includes your body, your clothes, and even your headband and mask. Felt like you're being stampeded by an elephant horde ain't it?"

Kage start choking. Mwu gritted his teeth. 'Kid!' But before he can give aid, Yzak stood in his way. Murrue was also being hindered by the stealthy Nichol.

"Now… I understand if the light is getting dimmer… but I just need you stay awake for a few more seconds… enough to play… peek a boo… I see you!" Dearka put down one of his tonfa and stretch out his left hand. Just then, he saw something disturbing.

Kage began chuckling and flash the bewildered Earth Knight his very own 'Screw you' smile from behind his mask. "Thanks for clarifying that for me, Mr. Obvious."

"Huh?"

"Then, a question for you: when something falling in a gravity area… where else can it go?"

"What the-"

"The answer is: DOWN!" Kage's seemingly limp fist suddenly shifted and unclenched, letting go a handful of Shuriken right on top of the earth knight. Given the effect of the gravity area, the shuriken weighs ten times the normal. A shower of heavy shuriken barraged Dearka's right arm, making him roaring in pain and forcing him to let go of the other tonfa. The earth knight quickly backed away. Kage, no longer under effect of the increased gravity, managed to immediately get up.

The whole battle stopped in an instant at this sudden turnaround. Everyone watched as both warriors prepared to fight again.

Dearka looked at his Shuriken embedded bleeding right arm. "You… to think the real surprise attack will be inside my own kekkai… you knew my power beforehand?"

"Please… when I looked at those flattened grasses… I already had my suspicions… thanks for confirming it with that long winded speech, Mr. Bigmouth!"

Everyone cheered. Mwu smiled proudly at his student.

Dearka chuckled. "My bad… Round 1 is yours…so… what are you going to do? Use my weapon and shoot me?"

"Confident aren't we?"

"HA! Use it then… if you can."

Kage blinked. He grabbed hold at one of those tonfas… '…is this thing… is this things are really meant for human??' Kage found that he was unable to lift the weapon, not even by a millimeter.

"Like my friend Yzak had so eloquently put: You Naturals had created the most outrageous of weapons… unfortunately…" Dearka aimed his palm at Kage. A blast of gravity hit the ninja squarely on his chest. Dearka jovially walked towards his weapon and easily, without even much of an effort, lifted both of them. "None of you can use it like we do."

Kage pants and gasps… "I see… Anti Gravity… Not only you can increase the weight… you can also decrease the weight!"

"That's right." Dearka connected both Tonfa, assembling the Cannon form. He looked for a moment at his damaged arm and sighed. "Well… you know… normally, if I saw my arm hurt like this… it pisses me to no end." The earth knight tightened his grip. "And normally, under such circumstances, I'll kill you… by taking out your limbs, one by one."

Kage tensed.

"But… Dearka Elthman is a man that is not above admitting his own error. I was careless. And thus I had this wound." The blond closed his eyes. "That's why…I thank you, for reminding me of one important lesson." Dearka opened his eyes. This time, Kage can tell by his expression: he's serious. "And so, I will not be careless again."

Dearka made his point clear of being serious by firing his cannon head on. The black ninja hopped to the side and the giant bullet narrowly misses him. Soon after that, he began running as the Earth knight detach the cannon and began barraging him with his tonfa-gun. 'DAAAMN IIIT!'

Kage quickly hid behind the rock. The bullets can't get through the said rock. "Hm. Fine." Dearka immediately connected both of his Tonfa and shoot the cannon again. Kage immediately jumped away as the spot was obliterated in an instant.

Murrue watched the battle and realized that the ninja is simply overpowered by his enemy. The Earth Knight, or Dearka as he called himself, had in his possession, one of the secret weapons they've been developing. Kir-Kage needs a secret weapon of his own. Holding up her pain, the Captain make her way to the horse that carries their supplies and munitions. She rummaged their belonging and found not the object she was looking for. "Oh no… oh no… where is it… where is it… huh?" Much to her surprise, the item she was looking for was already on the right person. "Ki… KAGE-KUUN!!"

Kage looked at Murrue.

"USE THE KATANA!"

Kage blinked.

"That Katana… the Katana on your back… USE IT!" Murrue yelled. "Y… If it's you… you definitely… can…" She fainted on the spot. Mwu and their students came to her support.

Dearka turned to Kage. The ninja already had his hand on the Katana on his back.

"Well? Are you going to pull it out or what?"

Kage hesitated for a moment… but then… "Here we go." And he pulled it. The moment the Katana was pulled willingly and knowingly by its chosen wielder, Shiki sent out a massive shockwave of light to every direction, as if signifying an inauguration initiation of the rightful master. And just as suddenly as it appeared, it suddenly vanished. Kage looked at the Katana resting on his hand. It was… brimming with power… overwhelming power. 'This is… ah… I remember… just like that in the forest… it's the same…' Kage gripped the Katana tightly with both hands.

Dearka smiled. "I see… just like before… sink or swim isn't it?"

"…I'm… I will charge from the front."

"!!" Everyone gasped.

Mwu gulped. 'A psychological warfare? In times like this?'

"…was that… a statement?"

"…yes. I will charge from the front… I leave it to you on how to block my attack… a warning though…"

"Yes?"

Kage took one more look at Shiki who is ready to explode with power anytime. "I don't know what this will do to you."

"Bring it on." Dearka pointed his cannon at Kira.

Everyone held their breath. Both combatants cannot move. The first one to make the move wins.

Both combatants are still.

00000000000000

Meanwhile… back in the Zaft vanguard…

"W… what happened here?" Shiho gaped.

Some of the knights they left behind to guard their camp were all slaughtered. Fortunately, Shiho found one that still barely breathes.

"What happened here? Answer me!"

"H… He… escaped… gone… mad…"

"W… Who escaped?"

The guard pointed to a direction with his last breath. Shiho take another look at the pointed direction: the cage.

The girl gasped. It was bent, inside out.

00000000000000

And suddenly, at the stroke of a second, the two moved.

Dearka pulled the trigger.

Kage, instead of slashing his sword, throw something to Dearka.

The Earth Knight gasped as that something suddenly exploded right in front of his face. A bright light burst out from the said explosion, blinding him, resulting in he pulled his trigger a split second too late. But he pulled it regardless. The cannon exploded with a thunderous roar, but Dearka could feel it.

He…

…had missed horribly.

Just as soon as the light fade, he saw Kage right in front of him. His left hand had pushed the now smoking cannon upwards towards the Sky. Smoke arises from the said left hand.

"I told you… I'll attack from the front… but I never for once said how I will do so… no?"

"No you don't. How did you…"

"If you can decrease gravity, then I'm guessing anything you touched, that is your cannon, is affected by your ability and in turn, immune to Gravity field as long as you touched the item and anybody else attached to the said item."

"Well put… but aren't you forgetting something? I can let go now, and you'll still be trapped in my gravity field."

Kage let go and hopped away from the range of the gravity field. "It doesn't matter… I've stopped the shot."

"But you can't hit me at that range!" Dearka attempted to undo his cannon, but before he was able to do so, his eyes widened.

"I told you…" Kage grab hold of Shiki with both of his hands. The blade was already enclosed in a colossal amount of energy. "It doesn't matter!"

"Aw dang…" The Earth Knight crossed both Tonfa before his chest.

Kage swung the blade horizontally, unleashing one giant energy shockwave that pressed against Dearka's Tonfa. The pressure was such; even the Earth Knight can't handle it. The accumulated power exploded, engulfing the tanned boy. The fury of the giant shockwave continued, obliterating everything in its path of destruction before it exploded one last time in a bright white glow a few kilometers away.

"DEARKA!" Yzak yelled in panic. The Water Knight was torn between helping his friend or continues the battle.

Nichol made the decision for him. "RETREAT! RETREAT!"

Yzak roared. "OUR TROOPS HAVEN'T LOST THE BATTLE YET!"

"YOU WON'T HAVE ANY TROOPS LEFT IF YOU DON'T PULL BACK!" Nichol retorted. "Safe Dearka first, and then rethink our plan!"

The silver haired boy sees no way around it. The defeat of one of the Elemental Knight proves devastating to their morale. With one last look of fury to Kage, Yzak turned away, followed by the rest of the knights… or what's left of them.

Kage pants and gasped. He held on to Shiki for support and his dear life. That last attack… seriously… if the Water Knight's wish was done, he would be dead by now. With great effort, the ninja managed to stand up again. He looked to his friends. Friends he had managed to safe.

Everyone smiled happily.

Kage contemplated to return the smile…

When someone… or something suddenly smashed his head to the ground from behind.

"T… thaaaat… Liii-iiight… thaaaat KA-TA-NAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"

'Wha…'

"Thaaaat KA-TA-NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" The person kicked him and tossed him to a rock, shattering it upon impact.

Kage start choking blood through his mask. Mustering what little strength he had, he looked at his attacker.

"T… thaaat… Ka-Ta-NAAAAARRGHAAA!"

Kage's eyes widened, recognizing the attacker. "You!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"

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Guess who the mystery attacker is!

R&R Please! This story seems not getting enough reviews…