Chapter 9

Homecoming

"We…we did it…" Corey said, grinning widely.

"Yep. We're finally back, pal." Derek replied, also smiling with rejoice.

The two were standing about a mile away from the colony in which the Arthur, Logan, and some of the other Rebels were at, staring happily at the facility. They had been gone for nearly two months, and were overjoyed to find the place safely unharmed.

"Only one thing left to do before we can go home and see everyone again." Derek said, looking over at Corey, who was holding a large bag over his shoulder.

"Yup, and that's getting my sword fixed. Then, we can finally head to Spirit World." Corey replied, still grinning.

"Let's go, buddy."

******

"Corey Kartana! Derek Maison! You've returned!" Logan exclaimed, overwhelmed by their appearance.

The two friends greeted the Lieutenant, and asked to see Arthur as quickly as possible. Logan took them to the old man's quarters immediately, and let them in. The old man was just as happy to see Corey and Derek as Logan was, and even more overwhelmed to see what Corey had in his bag.

"So you found the ore, have you?" Arthur said, beaming with pride, "I knew you two could do it."

"Yea, well, you could've told us about your little traps." Corey said, smiling grimly, "A couple of times there I thought we were screwed."

To this, Arthur merely chuckled. Corey handed him the ore out of the bag and the old man examined it, then nodded.

"Good. The forgery should take about two days, if I go swiftly. General Maison? Would you be kind enough to assist me?"
Derek nodded and stepped forward, "Of course."

Arthur lead the two out of the tent and into the a weaponry, where there was all the materials and tools needed to create any kind of weapon one could dream of.

Corey's old sword, Tetsaru, was waiting for them on a shop table. Arthur set down the ore and began to examine both items, then nodded.

"Right. Let's begin, shall we?" He looked over at Corey, "Like I said, it will take some time. Feel free to eat and refresh yourself. I'm sure that Logan and some others would be glad to speak with you about your next plan."

Corey nodded, knowing that he was useless when it came to making weapons, and with a quick goodbye to Derek and Arthur, left the weaponry to join Logan, who was just getting ready to head to the cafeteria.

The two sat down with some other rebels, all whom were glad to see Corey had made it back unhurt, and began to talk with them about older times. It seemed that a lot of them were interested in Corey and Derek's past cases and adventures, and the young man was more then happy to tell them.

After a few hours of chatting, most of the rebels needed to get back to work, leaving Corey alone to take a shower, shave, and do other necessities. By the time he was done, it was nightfall.

It feels good to be back in a familiar area. He thought to himself, staring up at the full moon in the sky.

He stretched upwards and smirked. "It's also good to see nothing has really changed at all since we've been gone." He glanced around him, then back up at the moon, laughing a little,

"It feels like we've been gone for years, but it's really only been a couple of months. I hope Liz and the others are alright…and ready. Once we get back, we're taking on Darkine."

He took a step back and clenched his hands into fists, then yelled, "You here that, Darkine?! We're gonna bust you're head in and take back our worlds!!"

******

Two days later, Corey returned to the weaponry, finding both an exhausted Derek and Arthur waiting for him. They both had tired smiles on their faces.

"It's done." Arthur said, and gestured towards the work bench, where a sword was covered in a black cloth.

Nervously, Corey walked over to the bench and undid the cloth. A large smile appeared on his face.

A sword which Corey had never seen before lay waiting for him. The hilt was the same as the Tetsaru's, but the blade was now dark red, with a bit of a curve to it. It was the same length as Tetsaru, but a little wider. The odd thing was, it felt even lighter now then it had before. He picked up the blade, and instantly felt stronger then ever.

Spiritual energy gathered around him and the blade at just a touch. He looked over at Arthur and Derek, with a smile like a child on Christmas.

"You do know I'm going to have to check this out." Corey said, letting the blade rest on his shoulder.

"Naturally." Derek replied.

The three left the shop and went outside of the colony walls, with a group of spectators waiting along the wall to see what Corey could do. Arthur and Derek were a few yards behind the young man, who held the new sword in both hands.

"Let's start this out good!" Corey yelled excitedly, and began to charge his spiritual power. The blue aura over took his body and even made Arthur take a few steps back. It was stronger then before, and both Corey and Derek could tell in an instant.

"Spirit Slash!!" Corey yelled, swinging his sword towards the ground. The spirit energy went from his body, through the blade, and out into the open in a devastating blast, destroying the ground in front of Corey for at least one hundred feet.

Corey grinned in satisfaction and looked at the sword. "Wow."

Derek nodded in agreement. "Such power…" he said, walking over to his friend. "It's way stronger then the Tetsaru. Are you going to name it something else?"

Corey nodded. "Yea…I already got the perfect name for it."

"And that is…?"

"The Ragnarok."

******

After a day of rest for Derek, the two said their goodbyes to the Arthur and the rest. The Ragnarok was resting in it's new sheath, made out of the remaining particles of the spiritual ore with a jet black color.

"Good luck, you two." Arthur said.

"And you, as well." Corey told him, "and thank you once again.

"We'll be informing all the colonies about the attack on Spirit World." Derek explained, "It's going to take all of us to win it back."

"Of course." Logan said, smiling. "We'll be waiting."

"Later everyone!" Corey shouted, and the crowd cheered their goodbyes as both Corey and Derek turned around and took off in a sprint to the Rebel Base.

It took only three days to get back, and once the two friends did, they knew that someone had already informed the army about their return. Over one hundred soldiers and civilians were waiting for them at the front of the Mobile Fortress, with hundreds more waiting on the inside.

Standing at the front of everyone, was Liz.

She smiled as she saw the two coming forward, and as Corey and Derek got closer, they saw she was holding the baby Cory in her arms. The two stopped in front of her, and Corey took a step to the side so that Derek and Liz could look at one another, and then with a small smile, she handed the baby over to his father, who looked up at him with large eyes.

"My son…" Derek said quietly, holding the babe in his arms. Cory had grown so much since he last saw him. Tears began to stream down Derek's eyes as he held the child, who reached his hand up and poked his father on the nose.

"Daddy…" Said the little boy, which made Derek's grin grow even more.

Corey smiled at the reunion, then looked back at the other rebels and withdrew the Ragnarok from its sheath.

"Who's ready for an invasion?!" He shouted, holding his sword in the air. The response was the loud roar of the rebels, all who were more then eager to end the war.

******

"So, have you thought of a plan of attack yet?" Liz asked, sitting down in the chair of the command center.

"Umm…I've always preferred the direct approach, myself." Corey commented, leaning back in his own chair.

"That probably wont work for this situation, Corey…" Derek answered, leaning against the table.

The three were in the Conference Room of the main Mobile Fortress, sitting around or leaning against the table, where a map of the main region of Spirit World was laid out.

"With what we've gathered," Liz began, pointing at the map, "We know that there are four Captains guarding Spirit World with their armies, one of which being an Elite. We believe the Elite is closest to the front gate of the castle." She pointed to where it was.

"Yea, but that still leaves miles of troops and two other Captains to get there." Corey said, frowning and crossing his arms over his chest, "Which will make for a hard battle."

"Damn…" Derek cursed, frowning as well, "If we could only get in touch with Spirit World! Then, we could combine our forces to lead them into a pincer attack!"

"That would still leave Spirit World fighting the Elite Captain, and with Kurama being their strongest fighter, that doesn't do much good." Corey said.

"I'm sure Kurama's been training inside of the castle." Derek pointed out, "For all we know he could be up to our strength by now."

"True, I guess…but still. I'd rather not force Kurama to fight an Elite alone."

"I think our best bet is this." Liz finally said, and the two men looked at the map. "If we charge forward, with us three in the front, we could probably take out a good portion of their troops by surprise. Then, we can leave the Captains to us, and then hopefully we can all three take on the Elite."

"You're going to fight, Liz?" Corey asked, raising a brow.

"Of course!" She shouted, "I'm strong enough, and a general of this army. I'm not saying that you two probably wont beat me to the punch, but I do think that it would be for the best if we can fight the Elite together."

"She's right." Derek agreed.

"Okay, fine." Corey said, grumbling a little.

"Then it's settled. Ellen!" She called. A few seconds later, the young lieutenant came into the room.

"Yes, General Rain?"

"Prepare messengers to get the other colonies ready. In one week, we head for Spirit World!"

"Yes, General Rain!" Ellen saluted the three, and then ran out of the room.

"So…one week, eh?" Corey said with a smirk.

"Yes." Derek repeated. "This is going to be a turning point in the war, one way or another. Losing isn't an option."

"And then, we strike Darkine, and end this thing once and for all!" Corey grinned, punching his fist into his other palm.

Liz nodded. "And finally peace will come."

The three then left the room and began preparations for the battle that was to come.