The science team all wore dust masks as they dug through a pit nearly fifty feet deep on the beach of lake Biwa, oni skulls being raised by an elevator by the dozens. "Man, this must have been one hell of a battle." A female scientist commented.
"You have no idea. Look at this." Another scientist said, crouching down to wipe the dirt from a strange metal object.
"Is that… a canon?" the first scientist asked.
"I think so… but the skulls were dated to the Edo period, gunpowder wasn't present in that time frame." The second said.
As the two women pondered the peculiarity of the weapon, another scientist uncovered an intact scroll from the skull of an oni, the scroll bashed into the oni's eye socket. The scientist took a step back and pulled the scroll open, looking to see what he hoped was a record of the battle. Instead, it depicted what was clearly the Getter-1 battling against an angelic creature.
Outside the pit stood Getter Robo G, while across the lake stood Getter-1. Each machine was fully staffed, with Michiru piloting the third plane, Poseidon. The third configuration resembling a cross between Getter-1 and Getter-3 with pink instead of red. Suddenly a massive vortex of clouds appeared overhead, with lightning sparking throughout it. It looked almost like a hurricane, that did not cause any destruction.
From within the vortex, a dozen mermaid like oni appeared, holding tridents. As they grew closer, the Getter teams could see they were the same size as the machines. Ryoma yelled and flew up into the air, preparing to battle the oni all on his own without even waiting for Michiru. After a few seconds of taking the moment in, Michiru snapped out of her trance and flew up into the air after Ryoma, hoping to get a piece of the action before Ryoma killed all of them.
Ryoma punched forward, the Getter's arm blades cutting a mermaid nearly in half, before calling out his axe. Ryoma brought it down into the skull of a mermaid as it attempted to stab the Getter, and turned around to see the one he had cut in half was now almost fully regenerated. Ryoma quickly buried the axe into its skull as well, not giving it the opportunity to attack him.
Getter Robo G grabbed the arms of a mermaid just before it struck Getter-1, and tore them off. Michiru quickly punched in the mermaid's head before it could regenerate. Almost instantly after, as Ryoma crushed a mermaid's skull with his right hand, the mermaids began to retreat into the vortex. Ryoma flew after them without thinking.
"Ryoma stop! We don't know where it goes!" Michiru yelled.
"Stop it god dammit, you're going to kill us!" Hayato said as electricity crackled through his cockpit.
"We've survived worse!" Ryoma boasted, just as they disappeared.
Getter Robo G floated in the air, staring at the empty space Getter-1 had been just seconds before, the storm completely gone as well. "Dad… did you see that?" Michiru asked into her helmet.
Shikishima's voice responded, "Michiru don't worry. Those boys have been through a lot. Whatever happened, they can handle it. And they still have a Getter to help them."
Ryoma did not have a Getter, he realized as he fell to the ground. Ryoma landed in a prairie, body aching as he pulled himself up to look at his surroundings. A blood moon hung overhead, but other than that he could not see anything. "Hayato! Benkei! Where are you!?" he called out. "Damn, where the hell are they?"
In the distance Ryoma heard rustling, and looked around for its source. A samurai ran out before him, head wrapped in bandages with blood running down his face, panic in his eyes. With no warning, an arrow pierced his throat and he dropped dead. Ryoma followed the direction the arrow came from, and saw five samurai running down a hill, as a shadowy figure on horseback chased them. As the figure approached, he could see that the figure was an oni riding on a demon horse, holding a spear in one hand the horse's reins in another.
The horse quickly caught up to the samurai and with one slash the oni sliced two of them in half. He impaled one of them through the chest, and cut the head off the next. Only one samurai remained seconds later, frantically dodging each attack from the oni, just barely managing to survive. The oni strikes forward, and with amazing speed the samurai slices the spear in half before it can pierce his body.
The samurai growls and pulls a katana from its side, riding forward as the samurai falls to his knees and clasps a deep wound on his thigh as it spewed blood. Ryoma screamed, halting the oni in its tracks as it looked around, and leaped into the air and tackled the oni from the horse. The oni pushed Ryoma off and pulled itself to its feet, only to be punched in the face by Ryoma, who quickly pulled the katana from the oni's hand and sliced at its head. The oni's helmet flew off, but it was not dead. It stepped forward, and Ryoma quickly slashed the blade. The oni froze, and so did Ryoma, and then the oni's face fell off, showing its brain cleaved in half inside its skull.
Ryoma through the katana to the ground, and turned to the samurai. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, kneeling to offer his aid.
"Thank you… you saved me…" the samurai said, astonished at the sudden appearance of this strange warrior.
In the distance, a steam powered zeppelin flew overhead. "What the hell?" Ryoma asked, he had been able to quickly adapt to being in the age of the samurai, but zeppelins did not make any sense here.
"It's lord Raiko!" the samurai explained, struggling to his feet. The zeppelin, followed by three more smaller vessels, sailed past Ryoma and the samurai, towards a palace centered in lake Biwa, firing cannons at the approaching palace. "She's already launching her assault on the Heian palace…" the samurai said.
"Wait, this is the Heian capital!?" Ryoma explained. "This place is still intact in my time!"
The samurai looked at Ryoma astonished and said: "Your time? Then… you're from the future?"
"Well… yeah, I guess that cat's out of the bag. I am from the future." Ryoma said.
"Then that must mean the Heian capital is the center in both our times!" the samurai said, almost giddy before turning dark. "But this place… is the dark Heian capital. The city of the oni."
"What the hell?" Ryoma remarked. "Never learned that in school.
Before Ryoma or the samurai could say more, a legion of winged oni rose from behind the tower in the center of the capital. A samurai aboard the main ship ordered all units to fire, and the canons were redirected to fire into the approaching army. They stood no chance however, as the oni opened their mouths and balls of energy fired from within, exploding in contact with the ships.
"Battle speed! Give me a full report, and make them pay for this attack!" Lord Raiko, a young woman dressed in samurai armor with hair tied into a bun, wearing a tall hat to show her position as ruler of the land, yelled at her soldiers. As an Oni flew onto the safety railing in front of her, she sliced its head off before it could attack.
Raiko and her samurai attacked the boarding oni with katanas, slicing their heads off faster than they could attack. "Abe no Semei is our target, attack him at full speed!" Raiko yelled, cleaving an oni in half with a single strike.
The ships quickly approached the tower, which as Ryoma looked at longer began to see resembled Saotome's laboratory, the figure of a pale skinned pan dressed in white robes and a hat just like Raiko's appeared above them, the size of a Getter but translucent. Raiko growled out the name "Seimei…"
"What the hell…" Ryoma gasped.
"That monster, is Seimei Abe." The samurai informed. "He's the devil. The king of the oni."
"What!? That basterd controls the oni!?" Ryoma asked.
The figure of Seimei laughed as cannonballs sailed towards the tower, and they suddenly stopped and exploded in mid-air. Seimei waved his hand, a purple pentagram engraved upon it, and the ships began to fall from the air.
"Everyone! Brace yourselves for impact!" Raiko yelled, sheathing her sword and hugging the railing as hard as she could.
The ship crashed into the lake, destroying the dock at the edge of the city. The samurai screamed out "No, my lord!" and ran forward.
"No, wait!" Ryoma called after him, expecting a trap. But he followed after, knowing this was his best chance at survival in this land.
Seimei looked to where Ryoma was running and whispered, "That man… could it be?" then he laughed at the thought of it.
The ship exploded as samurai ran across the shore, Raiko yelling for her men to get as fa away as possible, more explosions following. "HURRY!" she yelled, just before a tidal wave rose out of the lake and crashed down upon her.
The samurai screamed in pain, Ryoma standing just behind him, as he began to seize up. "What's wrong!?" Ryoma asked, bending down to help.
"It's taking over…" the samurai gasped, barely able to keep himself up. "My name is Tsuanayoshi Sawada, promise me you will give this to lord Raiko!" he groaned, reaching into his shirt and pulling out a piece of paper.
"Yeah, of course." Ryoma said, taking the paper.
"Now… please, cut my head off!" he yelled out.
"You were bitten!?" Ryoma gasped.
"Please, just hurry! While I can still die with honor!" the samurai said, but it was too late. His skin turned grey but no horns began to sprout from his skull. Ryoma quickly took the katana and sliced his head off before Sawada could kill him.
"Tsuda, no!" Raiko said as his severed head rolled down the hill into her feet. "YOU ONI BASTERD!" she roared, drawing her katana and sprinting up the hill to kill Ryoma.
"Wait, I'm human!" Ryoma yelled, raising the katana to block her attack. "Would you just wait!" Ryoma asked, blocking another fast attack.
The large samurai who was apparently Raiko's second in command stepped in front of her and said "My lord, step back! A human like oni is rare! We should capture it alive!"
But Raiko didn't listen, instead charging forward and slashing at Ryoma, who dodged back just in time, a small rip appearing in his flight suit. Raiko struck forward again, and Ryoma parried her attack, grabbed her arm, and threw her over his shoulder. Raiko dropped the katana and instead attempted to punch Ryoma in the face, as he did the same. Both warriors' hits landed perfectly, and they both fell back in pain.
"Damn, your pretty good…" Ryoma said almost flirtily, with a grin on his face. In response, a dozen spears were aimed at his throat.
"My lord, he dropped this while fighting." The second in command said, handing Sawada's parchment to Raiko.
Raiko looked down at the parchment, now unfolded, and gasped. "Arrest him, now!" she yelled.
Ryoma stood in a cramped jail cell, arms extended and tied to a piece of wood, but otherwise unrestrained. A single guard stood outside his cell. "When the hell am I gonna get some food!?" Ryoma barked.
"Shut up and quit complaining, we have no food to give to an oni!" the guard barked back.
"Then I'm getting the hell out of here!" Ryoma growled, breaking the wood over his back.
"How did you!?" the soldier gasped, as Ryoma kicked through the door, striking him in the face.
Ryoma ran through the village he was brought to after being arrested, samurai sealing all escape routes. He stopped at a bridge, seeing dozens of torches shining just out of sight. Behind him, a group of archers readied their bows and shouted out. Ryoma turned, only for the second in command to step onto the bridge, carrying a massive axe bigger than Ryoma.
"Don't move, you puny lout!" he ordered.
"I don't know what that is, but screw you!" Ryoma yelled, spinning around to take on this adversary, before stepping back at the site of his axe.
"My name is Sitaka Kintoki! And I will turn you into rust on the edge of this axe!" the samurai boasted, wielding the massive axe in one hand while his other was held behind his back.
"Fine then." Ryoma said "But you're a century too early to try and kill me."
"Kintoki, wait!" Raiko's voice came from behind the samurai, who turned to face his leader.
"My lord?" he asked.
"I want you to stand back!" Raiko ordered. "I, Minamoto Raiko, will be the one to avenge Tsuna's death!"
"Yes, my lord." Kintoki said, bowing.
"You're that guy from earlier…" Ryoma said, almost purring at the chance to fight Raiko.
"Hurry up and turn into an oni!" Raiko ordered, drawing her katana.
"Oni!?" Ryoma yelled. "Are you still on about that!?
"Here!" Raiko yelled, and through her katana between Ryoma's legs. "Take that blade and fight me honorably!"
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine with these!" Ryoma boasted, bringing himself into a battle stance to display his fists.
"You want to hurry to your death?" Raiko asked, walking towards Ryoma and drawing a second Katana from a scabbard provided by a samurai.
Raiko dashed forward and slashed at Ryoma, but he dodged easily. She slashed again, and he dodged once more. Another slash, before Ryoma dodged and punched forward, only for Raiko to dodge this time. Raiko continued to swipe at Ryoma, just barely missing with each swipe as Ryoma backed across the bridge. Raiko struck forward, and Ryoma parried with a kick to her sword, catching it in the wood railing of the bridge. Ryoma then kicked Raiko in the chest, knocking her back against the opposite side of railing.
Raiko gathered herself back up quickly, and punched Ryoma in the face knocking him to the ground. Ryoma leapt off the ground, tackling Raiko back down, pushing her chest down against the ground when he felt something he hadn't expected. Ryoma jumped off her and shook his hand in a mixture of disbelief and disgust, then looked back up at Raiko as she pulled herself to her feet.
"You're really a girl?" Ryoma asked. "Well, I guess that means you're the liar… not me."
"It's not like I was hiding anything!" Raiko yelled, pulling her sword from the wood. "Everyone here knows I'm a woman! If you have the power, it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman!"
"Right on, sister." Ryoma said, bringing himself back into a battle stance.
Above them, the ghostly figure of Seimei appeared. "Seimei, you have some nerve!" Raiko yelled. "You came out here all on your own, just to be defeated! Archers, fire!" as soon as she said this, the archers let loose a volley of arrows. With a wave of Seimei's hand, the arrows returned to the hearts of the archers. "Come down here and let me kill you!" Raiko roared. In response, his figure appeared before Raiko, who quickly slashed at him, only to be blown away by an invisible force.
Seimei floated towards Ryoma who asked: "What the hell are you!?"
"You are welcome here, Nagare Ryoma." Seimei said. "I've been waiting for you. I knew you'd come."
"Just who are you, and how the hell do you know my name!?" Ryoma asked, prompting a snicker from Seimei. "You know, I honestly have no idea what's going on here… but I'm still gonna kill you."
"You are welcome, any time. Come back with the Getter," Seimei said.
"SHUT UP!" Ryoma yelled, punching Seimei, only for him to disappear. After several seconds, Ryoma began walking away.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Raiko asked.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go kill my enemy." Ryoma replied.
The next day…
A large fat and muscular man with long black hair and thick eyebrows stood plowing the dirt, while a few feet away a group of people stood talking. "In that temple just over there, some weird guy with creepy eyes has been sleeping there for the past few nights." One of them said. "It's just not safe to leave him there."
"And you want my husband to throw him out for you?" one of the villagers, dressed in a pink robe, asked. "No problem, he's a bear among men! YOU HEARD THAT!? GO TAKE CARE OF IT!" she yelled at the large man.
A half hour later the man approached a rundown temple, with a black horse grazing outside. The man crouched and slowly snuck forward, into the doorway. There before him was the drifter, with long black hair, a slender frame, and a brown cloak on, asleep on the ground. The large man snuck close, and prepared to grab the man in a bear hug and pull him from the temple, when suddenly the man jumped up and uppercutted him in the face.
"Benkei? What are you doing?" Hayato asked, looking down at the man he had just punched.
"Hayato!? Is that really you!?" Benkei asked.
"It is. Sit down, I need to show you something." Hayato responded, taking a seat and pulling a scroll from his cloak. Hayato laid it out, and it showed the image of a red demon wielding an axe. "This is Getter-1." Hayato informed.
"What does this mean?" Benkei asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I just remember going through the portal, then I woke up a month ago outside a small village." Hayato said.
"A month ago!? I've been here for two years!" Benkei exclaimed.
"Two years? You must have made a whole new life then." Hayato replied.
"Not really, I honestly hate it here. And my wife hates me. She only married me because I could do all the farming on the farm she inherited from her parents." Benkei said, looking sadly at the ground.
"Interesting. Because it's on a scroll like this, the Getter must have gotten here even earlier." Hayato said. "I guess the time of arrival for each of us was different."
"Before we get to that, where the hell are we?" Benkei asked.
"I have no idea. They say we're in the Heian era, but guns and cannons are present." Hayato said. "I don't know if it's from us arriving, or we arrived because the technology has changed."
Ryoma walked towards a bridge leading across the lake, three men running back towards him, screaming. As Ryoma walked past them, now dressed in a cloak, he laughed at the site of an army of oni crossing the bridge. Ryoma pulled two axes from under him, briefly showing dozens of weapons under his cloak, and charged head first into battle.
Far behind him, Raiko road in a boat with wheels and a cannon. She looked through a telescope and saw the army of oni, and immediately thought of a plan. "The oni are congregating on the bridge, we split up into two battalions and attack from both the land and river!" she informed. Then she saw Ryoma cutting his way through the oni with ease, and gasped.
"What's wrong!?" Kintoki asked.
"That man… he's a demon." Raiko replied, handing the telescope to Kintoki.
It was true. Ryoma cut the heads from oni before they could even attack him, having killed dozens since Raiko first saw him through the telescope. Blood stained the wood under him and filled the lake, organs spewing onto the bridge and heads rolling in all directions. To the samurai, this was proof of Ryoma being a true warrior… but to the Getter pilot, this was just mindless fun before he battled his true opponent, Seimei.