Rise of the Ryu-onna
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics.
Watching the retreat Amarante felt Sinestro's ki approaching her and she turned to face him, the man saying "Watashi wa osoraku, karera ga anshin shite ni no senshi jikai o nokosu koto o manabu mono to shi, watashi no yūjin watashi no saidai no teki ni taishite sono yōna shōri o shōsan suruga, tantō no orokamono o shiru watashi wa chie no yōna kōi o utagau." with a smirk of confident victory on his face.
Amarante nodded in gratitude before turning to Hal and said "Jordan-san, I thank you for not interfering in this spar between Sinestro-dono and myself. I am also grateful that you ordered your men to retreat. If I had had my way, then no one would have died today."
"I wish things had been different too. It infuriates me when the Guardians order me to stop whatever it is I'm doing when Sinestro shows himself."
"Yes, Lantern Jordan, but if the Oans weren't so corrupt I would never have become the man I am today." Sinestro said, though he looked in Soranik's direction for a moment as said woman flew away in Kyle's arms.
"What do you mean, Sinestro?"
"You weren't aware? Those despots you call the Guardians have committed atrocity after atrocity over the millennia, all in the name of making the universe how they see fit. In pursuit of their ambitions they have murdered hundreds of trillions of innocent lives, then covered up their crimes." Sinestro told him and Amarante nodded her head as she said "Sinestro-dono is telling you the truth, Jordan-san. His scent, heart rate, and life energy did not change while he was speaking just now."
Sinestro then put the final coffin in the Guardians' coffin. "if you do not believe me, Lantern Jordan, then go to the archives, see for yourself how corrupt the Oans truly are, see why the Arielians are so adamant on fighting them." he told Hal and Kilowog, the giant alien snarling in anger.
"Hiroshi-san, Anata wa imanani o okonaimasu?" Sinestro asked Amarante, who's expression became contemplative behind her mempo.
"Watashi wa anata ga nani o shisa shite iru, Sinestro-dono, wakaranaidesu?" she answered as she cradled her right elbow into her left hand and put her right thumb and index fingertip to her chin.
"Osoraku, rantan no hōmu wakusei o tabi wa, karera no yarikata ya dentō ni anata no shiten o ataeru, Hiroshi-san." he answered and she nodded in agreement.
"Sore wa kenzen'na adobaisu de, anata ni kansha Sinestro-dono." she replied.
"Sore wa watashi no yorokobideatta, Hiroshi-san" he finished with a nod.
Just as the atmosphere seemed to return to peace, Kilowog roared in rage, having finally reached his limit of listening to Sinestro's voice and being near him.
Before Hal or Sinestro could react, a thunderclap sounded and was followed by a pained gasping cough from Kilowog, the pommel of Amarante's naginata buried into his gut as spittle burst from his lips and he passed out, the pommel the only thing keeping his bulk in the air as Amarante casually tossed the hulking extraterrestrial to Hal.
"Take him and go, Lantern Jordan, I give you my word that I will let you leave in peace." Sinestro said and Hal wasted no time to 'get the hell out of dodge' as he blasted away in a comet of green energy.
A few seconds later Amarante's aura exploded to life around her and she gave an almost casual wave in Sinestro's direction before saying "Mata aimashō, Sinestro-dono." and then exploding into movement, a sharp crackling boom and a vapor cone echoing her passage as she accelerated from a standstill to ten times the speed of sound.
As Sinestro and his lone corpsman hovered in the air watching the trail of ki, the corpsman smirking and his eyebrow raised, the man popped off "I told that muthafucka not to get involved, but considering his bulk I'd wager his brain is too small to understand basic concepts." Sinestro looking over and shaking his head.
It was a few seconds later that Amarante zoomed passed Hal, said man blinking in shock, as the red-garbed samurai burst from the now dying cosmic storm and flew out into the dark beauty of space.
Traveling through space at the hypersonic/high-hypersonic barrier while shielding herself in her ki, Amarante thought over the information she'd secretly taken from Hal's mind, of his homeworld that was named Earth, and decided to make that her first stop, curious about the warriors she'd caught glimpses of in the man's mind; people like Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, and more.
Her excitement getting the better of her, she tucked her legs in close for a second as her ki shield and aura flared to further life, and kicking out straight again, she accelerated to thirty times to the speed of sound; re-entry speeds, as a long trail of energy followed behind her.
At the very center of the universe, a large number of short, blue-skinned and white haired humanoids; the Oans, AKA the Guardians of the Universe, kept an eye on the very fast moving Ariel-jin, having sensed her power as it rose to heights they hadn't felt in ten-thousand years.
They recognized her, they had little choice, as the Ariel-jin, formerly the Ryu-jin, had very rapidly rose in overall power, the two most powerful individuals of that time, were Empress Ariel the First, and her greatest rival, Hiroshi Amarante.
To the Oans great relief, the Ariel-jin lost a lot of that power and prestige over the centuries. Sure an individual with potential surpassing that of a Kryptonian would crop up from time to time, but that was few and far between, with the most powerful being the two Dowager Empresses; Kage and Aracely, alongside their descendant; Mathias no Ichi, but even then Mathias paled in comparison to his ancestry, an ancestry that was now returning to the universe.
The Oans had hoped they were rid of Hiroshi for good all those centuries ago when Ariel blasted the woman in the chest with the Ryūgonken, but now. NOW they realized that Hiroshi had NOT been killed by the attack, no, she had somehow been catapulted from the 'Golden Age' to the modern era, and it scared the more 'intelligent' Oans that Hiroshi, her power and ambition tempered only by her morals and code of honor, had returned and was now much stronger than she had ever been before.
In a home outside of the council chamber sat an Oan with a long pony tail, Ganthet, who sensed the change in Hiroshi from what she'd been all those years ago. No longer was the woman a seemingly unstoppable engine of destruction, now she was trying to turn away from that blood-soaked path, and Ganthet sincerely hoped that she succeeded, because while Mathias no Ichi seemed content to give them and a few of the other Corps grief when his people came under attack, he was not a man who actively sought out war and bloodshed as his first choice. Hiroshi, Ganthet felt, would have no hesitation in turning his homeworld of Oa into a blood-soaked ruin if crossed.
A shiver ran down Ganthet's spine at the thought of what Hiroshi would do, should she ever run out of patience with his people, and he got the feeling that, before too many events occurred, that he would lose a great many of his people to her, the Final Dragon Woman. He could still remember the bloody path of carnage she carved across her homeworld for over 50 years, starting at the age of 15, when she killed a rival of her father's lord with her mother's naginata and then took service with her father's lord.
From then on she'd served with distinction, though her hatred of shinobi and kunoichi was legendary, spawning completely due to the very heated feud between Samurai and Shinobi, it paled in comparison to her loyalty and drive to ensure her lord's success in his ambition to conquer and rule his island homeland.
When her homeland fell against the Arielian Empire, Ganthet had been frightened to see the bloody path Hiroshi had carved into the Empire's ranks to enable her men and her to escape. At the same time, however, he was impressed with her unending courage and will to fight the empire with everything she had, and he'd been sorely tempted to send her a power ring for the Green Lantern Corps, in order to recruit her into the corps and see if she could be placed under his direct command, hopefully to curb that bloodlust and willingness to kill, but that plan failed when she was defeated and then vanished.
As he sat there in meditation, he heard his wife, Sayd, as she asked him "What's wrong, dear? you're shivering."
"The Last of the Dragon People, has returned." he answered and she gasped, remembering everything Ganthet had told her of the powerful warrior woman the instant the words penetrated her mind.
"Where is she?"
"On her way to Earth ... after a fight with Sinestro."
"How? Did she acquire a power ring?"
"She has one but isn't using it."
"Oh."
"She cut off John Stewart's hand for it, after massacring a large number of Green Lanterns for interrupting her spar with Sinestro." Ganthet answered and his wife gasped in shock at that. She knew the Oans weren't saints by a long shot, but their atrocities were spread across the millennia, while Hiroshi had been bathing in blood from a young age.
"Why is she heading to Earth, dear?"
"She read Lantern Jordan's mind and saw images of his colleagues in the Justice League, I believe she is going there simply out of curiosity, but I also hope that her bloodlust becomes dormant, or all of creation could be lost forever."
"I hope she turns away from the path of bloodshed as well." Sayd returned as the two returned to their meditations.
Amarante, traveling through space, suddenly felt a source of ill and malicious intent, no, it was several sources all in one general location. Her upbringing guiding her, she accelerated to 40 times the speed of sound as her aura blazed to further life, and concentrating on the sources, she narrowed down the location as she changed her heading.
She eventually found the right direction, and her eyes narrowed inside her helmet as she started picking up random thoughts from the leader of the sources. She immediately grew enraged at the thoughts running through this sick freak's head, of murdering a woman and her son while forcing himself on the woman's daughter; a VERY beautiful young woman named Bleez, and ripping said woman's wings off after forcing her into sex slavery.
Finally getting a lock on the location, seeing it in her mind helping immensely, she channeled her ki in a very specific way, to activate one of her techniques, saying in her mind "Shunkan Idō!" just before she vanished with a 'pop'.
On a distant planet, a VERY beautiful young woman with blue skin, black hair and massive black wings while wearing little clothing was flying home.
This was Bleez, who was famous in seven sectors for her beauty, in both body and wing, the massive yet beautiful wings with which she flew being a symbol of beauty and pride for her, as it is for all of her people.
As she flew, she reflected on her mother, who had sent one of the family servants to fetch her. The old woman was haughty and arrogant, looking down on the people of their homeworld who didn't have wings and seeing them as beneath her, a sentiment that Bleez did not share with her. The woman had gotten up in age and was desperate to see Bleez married, so that an heir to her father's line would be born, but Bleez had refused every suitor to come calling as the bastards had wanted her only for her body.
So now it would seem to Bleez that her mother would FORCE a suitor on her, something which didn't surprise the beautiful woman, as her mother was overbearing and arrogant, thinking herself far more important than she was.
Nearing her home, Bleez saw her mother standing on the balcony, the aging woman's greyish-black hair unmistakable as was the wrinkles of age. Beside her was Bleez's younger brother. Angling herself to hover in the air after approaching, she came close and her mother's arrogance was overwhelming as the woman said "I have found you a suitor, daughter."
"Mother, I refuse. I won't marry someone who wants me only for my body. You KNOW this."
"Daughter, cease this foolishness at once. I should have never allowed you to be amongst the wingless rabble and peasants, their foolish talk of love has poisoned you. You should marry and bear children, so that your father's line doesn't end."
"I refuse to marry someone for a reason other than love, mother. I will not hang on a rich aristocrat's arm to be paraded around like a trophy wife. If I marry, it will be to a man who loves me for me, a man I can love for who he is as well, not what he is or what material wealth he could provide for me."
"I was afraid of that, but fear not. The suitor I have found for you is powerful. He comes from a distant sector." the old woman said just before they heard a cry of surprise followed by the sound of a blade cutting through flesh. A scream of pain came from within the house just before a thump of an object hitting the floor. Looking to the house they heard a feminine voice say "Gomi anata no yō ni, īe, anata wa gomi-mimandearu. Anata no jaaku de anata no omo to masutā o fumeiyo dake sukamu, sukamudesu. Watashi wa shimasen no tame ni sōsaku-sha, kare no ai to jihi eien no wa, anata ni dōjō o motte iru koto ga arimasu."
They heard another scream just before the sound of meat being cut and a deeper thump. Bleez's younger brother, scared by the sounds, leapt into the air towards Bleez and cried "Sister!", only for a wingless man wearing the uniform of the Sinestro Corps to appear. The corpsman was there only for a second before a beam of energy exploded through the balcony doors and slammed into him, his cry of surprise and pain lasting no more than an instant before he was atomized in the blast.
Looking into the house, the trio saw an armoured figure, a pole blade in their right hand while the left was raised and smoke curled lazily from the palm. The left hand dropped before the armoured figure stood straight and held the pole blade with it's butt on the floor, a body missing both hands and the head laying nearby. "Watashi o yurushite, anata wa daijōbudesuka?" the figure asked as the antler-adorned helmet vanished, revealing the woman within.
Author's notes:
"Watashi wa osoraku, karera ga anshin shite ni no senshi jikai o nokosu koto o manabu mono to shi, watashi no yūjin watashi no saidai no teki ni taishite sono yōna shōri o shōsan suruga, tantō no orokamono o shiru watashi wa chie no yōna kōi o utagau." - I applaud such a victory against my greatest enemies my friend, perhaps they shall learn to leave two warriors in peace the next time, but knowing the fools in charge I doubt such an act of wisdom.
"Hiroshi-san, Anata wa imanani o okonaimasu?" - Miss Hiroshi, what will you do now?
"Watashi wa anata ga nani o shisa shite iru, Sinestro-dono, wakaranaidesu?" - I am unsure, Lord Sinestro, what do you suggest?
"Osoraku, rantan no hōmu wakusei o tabi wa, karera no yarikata ya dentō ni anata no shiten o ataeru, Hiroshi-san." - Perhaps a journey through the Lantern home planets, to give you perspective on their ways and traditions, Miss Hiroshi.
"Sore wa kenzen'na adobaisu de, anata ni kansha Sinestro-dono." - That is sound advice, thank you, Lord Sinestro.
"Sore wa watashi no yorokobideatta, Hiroshi-san." - It was my pleasure, Miss Hiroshi.
"Mata aimashō, Sinestro-dono." - I will see you again, Lord Sinestro.
"Gomi anata no yō ni, īe, anata wa gomi-mimandearu. Anata no jaaku de anata no omo to masutā o fumeiyo dake sukamu, sukamudesu. Watashi wa shimasen no tame ni sōsaku-sha, kare no ai to jihi eien no wa, anata ni dōjō o motte iru koto ga arimasu." - Garbage like you, no, you are less than garbage. you are just scum, scum who dishonor your lord and master with your evil. may the creator, his love and mercy everlasting, have pity on you, for I will not.
"Watashi o yurushite, anata wa daijōbudesuka?" - Forgive me, are you alright?