SailorStar9: Figured I needed to get this chapter out before you guys hunt me down. So this is Chapter 13. Read and review.

Disclaimers: Nothing here are mine, well, except the plot.

Chapter 13: Fate of the Ronin Armor


The episode begins when Kento walking along a deserted subway tunnel.

"How am I supposed to find the exit in this darkness?" he asked, looking forward at the seemingly endless tunnel.

Just then, he heard metal cranking and it caught his attention.

Turning around, he saw Rowen step out from behind him.

"Rowen." Kento blinked at the blue-haired genius.

"It seems we fell for their plan." Rowen commented.

"Are you alright?" Kento asked.

Then, he took a defensive pose, "Actually, I'm not convinced you're the real Rowen."

Rowen let out a smile, "Recklessness will get you killed after all."

"Anyway, let's find an exit." he suggested.

"I'd say that's got to be the real Rowen." Kento mused as the Warrior of Air walked past him.

"Come on." Rowen urged.


Meanwhile, back in Talpa's castle, the evil overlord was holding a meeting with his remaining Warlords.

"Those lives of those annoying pests are now in the palm of my hands." Talpa remarked. "Let's take advantage of this opportunity and destroy them."

"What do you have in mind?" Sekhmet asked.

"When the five becomes as one, their power is at their greatest." Talpa answered. "But if we can break their harmony, you can handle each of their powers individually."

"But our armors have proven ineffective against them." Cale objected.

"That simply means your powers are insufficient, you fool!" Talpa reprimanded.

"Yes Master." the three Warlords replied in unison.

"In order to defeat them, we have to use their own powers against them." Talpa informed his Warlords.

"What do you mean?" Sekhmet asked.

Talpa chuckled, "Dais."

"Yes sir!" Dais bowed.

"I want you to orchestrate this next assault." Talpa told him.

"Yes. It would be a pleasure." Dais bowed. "What do you have in mind?"

"You shall see!" Talpa chastened.

"Yes sir!" Dais bowed lower.

"Just wait." Talpa pondered once the three Warlords were out of earshot. "All five of their armors will fall into my possession."


Back with Rowen and Kento, the two were still walking down the abandoned subway.

"Hey Rowen." Kento voiced out. "Instead of wandering about like this, why don't we just use our armors' power to bust through the roof?"

"That won't do!" Rowen scolded.

"But why?" Kento asked.

"We're not even sure that could work." Rowen told him. "Besides, we're in the middle of their territory. We aren't sure what other traps they have for us."

"Rowen." Kento looked at his friend. "Caution is good, but there's something to be said for making the first move."

"It's better that you don't use up your energy if you don't have to." Rowen advised.

Then, he stopped when he heard the wind whistling in.

Kento looked back as well after sensing the ground beneath them tremble.

"Kento!" Rowen called in warning.

"Here they come." the Warrior of Earth noted as two trains came thundering down the tracks in opposite directions.

"It's Talpa's power!" Rowen warned as the two trains closed in.

In a split second, the two jumped on top of the trains.

"Rowen!" Kento called out as the trains moved further from each other.

His warning was cut short when a spear gutted out of the train he was riding on. Kento barely managed to hang on to the side of the train. Looking in from the widow, he was stunned to find the train filled with Dynasty Soldiers.

"Don't they have better things to do?" Kento asked but was interrupted when a spear was thrust out at him.

Kento dodged the attack and using the spear as leverage, jumped back onto the roof of the train and punched his way in.

"All right, I'll take you on." Kento remarked as he readied for battle.

"Here goes!" he called out after dodging one attack after another. Raising his fists, he battled his way through the sea of Dynasty Soldiers.

"You little shrimp are nothing." he declared after easily dispatching the Dynasty Soldiers.

"You need a lot more experience to take me on." he added.

"More of you guys?" he frowned as he noticed yet another sea of Soldiers in the compartment in front of him.

"I don't have time to deal with this." he noted.

Meanwhile, the train was traveling down the track at full speed and Kento peered out through the window and was shocked to find the track had been blocked by a pile of rubble.

"The track's buried." he realized at the train drew closer.

"I said I don't have time for this!" he repeated, as he turned around to face his opponents.

"There!" he noted, noticing the hole on the roof which he had punched through.

"Out of my way!" he shouted, leaping over the Dynasty Soldiers, using their backs to boost himself out.

He gritted his teeth as he waited for impact. Kento screamed after the train crashed headfirst into the rubble as he was thrown off the train and falling straight for the rocks. He used his hands to shield his face but was stunned when the found himself traveling through a dimensional portal.

"What the..." he gasped.


Back with Rowen, the dark-blue clad warrior had jumped off his ride and was hanging by a pole on the ceiling.

"What's up with that subway?" he wondered. "Just passing through?"

"I get it!" he gasped in understanding.

Jumping down, he ran back.

Those trains were meant to separate me and Kento. And if nothing happened to me, that means, they are after Kento. He realized. Don't fall for their trap, Kento!


Back with Kento, the orange clad warrior found himself in the ancient past.

"Where am I?" he wondered.

His attention was drawn to the sound of battling and he turned to see two armored warriors locked in battle.

"What is this?" he inquired as he watched the battle continue with both sides defeated at the same time.

"What the heck is going on?" Kento asked in confusion.

"Where am I?" he screamed.

"Hardrock!" Talpa's voice answered him.

"Who's that?" Kento asked.

Talpa chuckled, "I am the master of the armor."

"Talpa! You must be Talpa." Kento replied.

Talpa laughed.

"Where are you Talpa?" Kento demanded. "Let's settle this once and for all!"

"Hardrock, you shall watch." Talpa advised.

Kento frowned as the fog before him lifted and was stunned to find a sea of armored warriors who had fallen in battle before him.

"What is this?" he asked.

Then from the corpses, the four Warlords burst out, clad in their full armor.

"There you are!" Kento readied himself.

"Kento of Hardrock, I did not bring you here to do battle." Talpa told him.

"What?" Kento demanded.

"Don't you think it's unusual that the armors of the four Warlords lie before you?" Talpa asked.

"Well..." Kento noted.

"The power of my armor is meant to rule the Nether Realm, and then the world, through slaughter and destruction." Talpa told him.

"So, what about it?" Kento asked.

"The armors are infused with savage, evil ambition. As a warrior fights, the armor grows with him in power." Talpa added.

"Power?" Kento echoed. "The armor of Hardrock has gained the power to destroy you!"

"Hardrock, there is no such thing as fighting for justice and righteousness. To the warrior, only the feelings of savage anger and vengeance gather." Talpa continued his lecture.

"What?" Kento gasped.

"The armors of the four Warlords are the same as yours." Talpa added, as the Warlords' armors glowed in dark power. "As you fight, your armor grows and will finally evolve to be the same as the Warlords'."

"My armor is going to be the same as the four Warlords?" Kento echoed.

"That's right." Talpa replied.

"What?" Kento gasped.

"But don't worry." Talpa added. "It is not only your armor that's destined for this.

"The armor of Wildfire, the armor of Halo, the armor of Strata and the armor of Torrent." Talpa continued as the four armors appeared one by one before Kento. "All of these four armors possess the ambition to conquer and dominate the world!"

"Silence! I'm not going to listen to any more of this garbage!" Kento retorted.

"That is the word of the master of the Ronin Warriors." Talpa told him. "It cannot be disputed."

"You are calling yourself our master?" Kento demanded.

"The Ronin Warriors belong to the Netherworld. Those armors that you wear represent massacre and destruction. Eventually, you will turn against humans and submit yourself to the Netherworld." Talpa added.

"That's a lie!" Kento screamed.

"You don't have to understand." Talpa continued. "I just want you to fight. Battle on and awaken your evil side. Fight! Hardrock!"

Kento readied himself for battle as his friends rose against him.

"Stop! Ryo!" he raised a hand to defend himself against his leader.

"We're allies!" he added, dodging Ryo's attack.

"I'm on your side." he protested, side-stepping Sage's attack.

"I'm Kento of Hardrock. Don't you get it?" he shouted. Unable to restrain himself, Kento lifted his fist at his attacking friends.

"Stop!" he screamed. His fist glowing with evil power, he was about to knock Ryo down when a hand pulled him back.

"What the..." Kento blinked, lowering his fist.

"Stop this Hardrock." Athena advised calmly, releasing her hold on him.

"But..." Kento protested.

"Is what you see before you really the truth?" Athena asked him. "Or is it just another trick by Talpa?"

"This is no trick, girl." Talpa told the girl.

"Look!" he added, as the four Ronin Warriors rose to their feet.

Kento quickly placed himself before the Goddess, intent on defending her but was stopped when Athena placed a hand before him, gesturing for him to halt.

Kento could only look on in horror as the four closed in on the Goddess, their weapons drawn. However, the moment Sage's and Ryo's swords came down on her, the four Ronins were dispelled when Athena's Cosmo suddenly flared, revealing the Warlord of Illusions underneath.

"Dais, so it really was your doing." Kento retorted.

"That's right." Dais replied. "It may just be an illusion bit it is aimed at showing you your true destiny."

"Show me my destiny?" Kento echoed.

"That's right." Dais replied. "The armors belonging to you and your friends are evil."

"Nonsense!" Kento rebuked. "Listen, my armor is gaining strength in order to fight and defeat you Warlords of Doom!"

Dais laughed, "Don't be stupid. You can't defeat us with your armor alone. I've lost patience with your confusion."

"And you, my dear girl, have interfere quite enough!" he turned his attention to Athena.

Raising his hand, with Talpa's power behind him, the Warlord of Illusion blasted the Goddess out of the alternate dimension.

Kento gasped as the Goddess faded out.

"Dais you!" he hissed.

"You're brought here only because your armor is awakening to its true nature." Dais told him.

"True nature?" Kento echoed.

"Yes." Dais replied . "Its true nature is to be covered in the blood of war and battle. And your armor of Hardrock is the most brutal and savage compared to the other four."

"No!" Kento gasped in horror, as his mind was filled with images of him in his armor, along with the other Ronins, weapons drawn and striking the armored warriors before them.

"It's a lie! It has to be." Kento tried to dispute the image from his mind.

"It is no lie. Your armor is teaching its true path." Dais told him. "That was a vision of the path taken by your armor through history."

Then, Talpa's image manifested before Kento, his voice echoing the same sentence.

"My armor?" Kento repeated. "Teaching me?"

"Don't you understand?" Talpa questioned. "Then you shall learn through your own experience."

That said, Dais turned into a fiery red orb of light, his power spreading over the ends of the horizons. When the dust settled, Kento was stunned to see an army right in front of him.

"Charge!" the general instructed, drawing his sword.

What are those guys? Kento wondered as the army charged at him. He rose his arms to defend himself but found that the soldiers had phased past him.

"Phantoms?" he wondered outloud. "Is this their illusion?"

All of a sudden, Dais attacked him from behind.

"You must join our ranks." Dais declared.

"I will not fall for your lies!" Kento retorted.

"You may feel that way, but your armor disagrees!" Dais told him. "Show me! The true nature of your armor."

That said, he brought his weapon down on Kento who immediately rose his arms to guard himself.

"My armor isn't evil. I'll now show you whether it is for justice or evil. You just watch." Kento declared.

"Armor of Hardrock, Tao Gi!" he called out his transformation.

Dais laughed, "That's it. Drone on the armor which is evil."

"Silence!" Kento shouted. "I'll show you once and for all that this armor is intended to destroy you."

"Interesting." Dais commented as Kento twirled his weapon. "I'll show you the nature of your armor."

"Take that!" Kento let out a battle cry as he launched at Dais.

Dais laughed as he too took out his weapon and met with Kento's attack.

The two warriors clashed for a while before Dais jumped up and attacked Kento with his nunchaku. Kento dodged the attack and Dais threw his kamas at Kento who deflected it with his weapon. Not giving Dais any chance to retaliate, Kento used his detached weighted end of his weapon to knock Dais over.

"What? Is that all?" Dais taunted. "No. this isn't the the true extent of the armor's power. It wants more blood. More evil."

"Come at me." the Warlord declared as he rose back to the ground. "Be as violet as your armor's nature desires."

"Shut up!" Kento shouted. "I don't fight as my armor commands. I fight with my own free will."

Dais laughed, "Is that so? Is it what your armor truly wants? Let's see."

That declared, the Warlord tossed his kamas at Kento who used the three separated sections of his weapon to deflect the attack.

"Show me! Show me its evil side." Dais announced, throwing his nunchaku at Kento, who braced for the attack. Then, his armor glowed an eerie red.

Not giving him any chance to strike back, Dais used his nunchaku again. In response, Kento's armor radiated the same eerie red as before and Kento had a vision in his mind of him and his armor turning evil.

Lost in his thoughts, Kento barely managed to defend himself against Dais' kamas.

"Oh, this is it!" Dais noted as he saw Kento's armor glowing with dark energy. "This is the power of your armor."

"This is..." Kento gasped.

Dais was then thrown back by Kento's sudden surge of energy

Letting out a battle cry, Kento charged forward, attacking Dais viciously.

As he assaulted the Warlord, Dais turned into an image of Ryo.

"You think you can fool me?" Kento demanded, as he continued his assault.

Dais then turned into Sage and lifted his arms to protect himself.

"Take that!" Kento declared, tossing the weighted end of his weapon at Dais who shape-shifted into Cye.

"Cye..." Kento gasped, as Dais was thrown against the tree, not believing that he had struck his best friend. A split second later, Dais changed into Rowen.

"Now you're Rowen." Kento gaped.

"Enough of this Dais!" the Warrior of Earth demanded as Rowen fired an arrow at him.

"Well Kento?" Rowen asked. "How does it feel to be betrayed by your own?"

"Why you! How dare you fool me by saying that my armor is evil? There is no way I can forgive you." Kento hissed as Rowen turned back into Dais.

"Iron Rock Crusher!" he unleashed his surekill on Dais and smiled knowingly as he defeated the Warlord.

"I saw that smile Hardrock." Dais announced as he was blown away by Kento's attack. "I saw the pleasure you took."

The sheer impact of the attack demolished the nearby buildings.


"What?" Rowen inquired as he rushed to the scene. "The Warlords?"

Worried about his friend, the Warrior of Air took off.

Talpa laughed, "It seems that your armor represents slaughter and destruction."

"What?" Kento demanded quietly.

"Look at the mountain of rubble." Talpa told him. "This is proof beyond doubt that your armor is the essence of evil."

"What?" Kento gaped.

"One day, you shall return to the Dynasty." Talpa told him. "I look forward to that day."

"It can't be..." Kento gasped.

"Kento!" Rowen shouted.

"Did you do this?" the Warrior of Air asked as he looked at the rubble pile.

"Yeah, I did." Kento admitted. "With my armor's power."

"Kento...?" Rowen muttered worriedly.


Back in Talpa's castle, Talpa complimented the Warlord of Illusion, "Good work, Dais."

"I thank you." Dais bowed. "I was the only who who could've accomplished this. It would've been too much for the others."

Talpa chuckled, "Now that is done, I 'll have Anubis take his turn next."

"Anubis?" Dais asked in puzzlement. "I don't understand Master."

"Anubis has changed quite a bit. You just watch." Talpa informed him.


SailorStar9: Well that's it, for now. Read and review.