Chapter 26: It's a Trap
The Rogue Shadow had been flying through space for four days, and they were about fifteen hours away from Luminous. Nero and Ryder were in the cockpit navigating when they heard a Katie yell from the back, "We've got company! Three starships heading right towards us!"
"Murdoch! Skibo! Man the guns! Katie, turn on the cloaking device and turn off anything that produces light," explained Ryder. He turned to Nero and said, "Turn off the engines and coast. Try and keep the same trajectory though."
"Got it," said Nero as he eased down on the throttle.
Katie ran into the cockpit and said, "Everything is off, but they are still headed our way."
"That's fine," Ryder said. "If they do engage, we can out maneuver them, and we have more firepower."
"Here they are. Why don't we gun them down if we have the firepower to do so?," asked Nero pointing in the direction of three lights in the distance ahead of them.
"Because if wherever they came from realizes that they have been destroyed, it can cause a lot of unwanted problems to this mission. Wait until they make the first move," said Ryder.
Ryder, Nero, and Katie stood still in the cockpit until they saw three more lights get closer to them a lot more quickly. Ryder turned to Katie and asked, "Are those missiles?"
Katie nodded and said, "Yeah, we might need to do something about those."
"Nero, dodge them, and I'll deal with the ships," said Ryder.
Ryder thrusted the throttle forward and dipped down. The missiles dipped down and followed them. The Rogue Shadow swiftly jolted back up to the point it was higher than the incoming ships. With the three missiles close on their tail, the Rogue Shadow was close to passing over the other ships.
"Murdoch! Skibo! Don't shoot at them!" yelled Ryder as he turned and faced the back of the ship.
Right before the Rogue Shadow passed over the other ships, Ryder brought his hands up to his chest then thrusted them down. Immediately, the three missiles were pushed down and rammed right into each of the ships blowing them up.
"Got them," said Ryder. Nero held up his hand wanting a high five, and Ryder smiled and slapped it.
Murdoch walked into the cockpit and said, "That was surprisingly easy."
Nero spoke out and said, "I think they were either automated or robots. That's the only reason why they were so easy to destroy."
"Okay. Well, go turn everything back on, Katie, and make sure nothing was damaged. Everyone else, get back to what you were doing," ordered Ryder.
Hunter was sitting inside the meditation room Indian style. A single candle lit in the corner of the room. Deep inside himself, Hunter was in a room talking to two dark figures on separate thrones.
One of the thrones was higher than the other, and the figure on it had piercing red eyes. The other had black eyes with yellow, snake-slit pupils.
"If you release me completely, you'll have unsurpassable power," said the figure on the taller throne. His red eyes pierced into Hunter like they were daggers.
"Just stop trying, Lucifer. There's no way I'm gonna let you do that. I'd practically die, and only my body would actually have that power," said Hunter.
"If you think that I'm going to be caged inside a mere human, you're a fool. I am Lucifer. The bearer of light! The greatest of all the angels. King of power. You won't be able to hold back forever," he said.
"At least you have a choice," said the other figure.
"You did that to yourself, Satan. You shouldn't have stayed so mad at Michael," explained Lucifer.
"My bad for not thinking that those damn Archangels could turn me into a weapon. Then, we're told that humans will eventually be better than us?! What else am I supposed to do. I am wrath incarnate!" replied Satan. Columns of fire busted through the ground around his throne.
"You wanna know something that could help y'all feel free?" asked Hunter.
"I'm not gonna lend you more power, human. There's no human alive that's worthy of wielding my power," replied Lucifer.
"Why are you so damn stubborn," asked Hunter in a pissed off tone.
Angrily standing up and a fierce fire appearing behind him, Lucifer said, "I am a god! You should be enslaved to me not the other way around!"
"Well you do know if I die, you get frozen back in the bottom circle of Hell. I know you don't like that place either," replied Hunter.
"It's better than being here," said Lucifer.
Hunter shook his head and disappeared back into his regular consciousness.
"You know, he is right. That place sucks and you know it," said Satan. "I know you feel the same way. After all, we are practically the same person."
"The one thing I possess is my pride, and there is nothing that will tarnish that," replied Lucifer.
"Then why did you help him against Ryder?" asked Satan.
"Because I felt a demonic presence coming from him. It was those eyes. They're dangerous even for us," explained Lucifer.
With his finger on his chin Satan said, "Does that mean, if someone nearly kills him, then that person is actually destroying you as well since he's your vessel?"
Lucifer glared at Satan and said, "This is my room. Get the hell out of here, weapon." He extended his hand towards Satan, pushing him into the darkness behind him.
"Trying to get to my pride by using the human as something I should take pride in since I inhabit him. Pathetic," said Lucifer.
Ryder opened his eyes and stared at the gray ceiling of his room.
'We should be close to Luminous by now,' he thought.
His stomach twisted inside him. He sat up on the side of his bed and began putting on his boots. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he mumbled to himself.
He got up and walked out of his room and down towards the main hold. Nero, Katie, and Murdoch were sitting on the couch talking to each other.
"I wonder if he still keeps in contact with them. I mean, he told the President that he would," said Murdoch to the other too.
They forgot that Ryder could hear extremely well when he is in tune with the Force. As he walked into the main hold he said to them, "Y'all will know soon enough." The others looked at each other with a confused look.
"So, how close are we?" asked Ryder.
"We've been orbiting the planet for a few hours now. We wanted you to finish resting before we actually start the mission," said Nero.
"Thanks," he responded. "What about Skibo and Hunter?"
"They're in the training rooms meditating," answered Katie.
Ryder nodded, walked into the cockpit, and looked at Luminous. Brownish red clouds covered a large part of it. The areas that had no clouds were brown from the dry mountains that inhabit the barren surface. He sat down in the captain's seat and said into the intercom, "Everyone, get ready for the descent onto Luminous."
Ryder gripped the throttle and pushed it down and began accelerating into the orbit. For a few seconds, all that was visible through the windows were the maroon clouds, but when they broke through the atmosphere, tall mountains and deserts cover the majority of the surface. No water was in sight. The sand was yellow and red, and that color transitioned to the base of the mountains that were brown up to the tip.
Nero, who was sitting next to reader, pulled up a map that showed a blinking red dot with a changing number next to it. "This is the factory and the number shows our distance from it. We should stay at least a mile away."
"Got it," replied Ryder. Nero glanced back at Katie who gave a worried expression towards Ryder.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "You've looked worried since you've woken up."
Ryder didn't say anything for a moment. "I don't know. To be honest, I just feel uneasy about something."
"It's probably just jitters. We all get them occasionally," said Katie rubbing his back.
"Yeah, I hope so," he responded.
The Rogue Shadow continued towards a mountain range that had a glow coming from its other side. Nero pointed to the strange glow and said, "That's it. This far should be good. Go ahead and land her."
Ryder gently lowered the ship to the ground.
Per usual, everyone met up in the main hold for the mission preview. All eyes were on Ryder.
'You've done this plenty of times, Ryder. Now is not the time to get butterflies,' he thought.
Calm your mind. I can feel how rattled you are. It will only disrupt your objective.
Ryder took a deep breath and said in his head, "Stay out of this."
Why do you shut me out? I've talked to you a few times, and you never want my help. Why did you even let me reside within you?
"Okay. Remember, our objective is to assassinate the overlord of this mining facility. Intel says that he has immeasurable strength when it is close to noon. That's why we're attacking at now, at night. However, he also has titans and other powerful slaves working for him. Our mission isn't to free them, so DON'T get attached to them. That's what it means to be a Shadow of Hell. To handle business so that the Council doesn't look at us with suspicion."
Ryder looked around at all everyone. "This is how we are going to split up. I want Hunter and Nero with me. Our objective is to assassinate the overlord."
Ryder pointed at Katie and said, "Katie, I want you to stay in the ship, and if we call you in for your alchemy, be ready." Katie nodded at Ryder and went into the cockpit. Ryder's distress had affected her. She looked uneasy as she walked to the cockpit.
"Murdoch and Skibo," said Ryder. "You two will search the factories for the armored titan. If you run into any trouble, make sure you radio back to us."
Ryder looked at Katie. Their eyes met.
She opened the exit ramp and said, "Okay, good luck you guys." Everyone ran out onto the hard surface of Luminous except for Ryder.
Once everyone left the ship, Ryder walked up to Katie. Even though she was showing off her toned and curved body with her white sports bra, very short khaki shorts, and a red flannel tied around her waist, Ryder stared at her hazel eyes. They reminded him of the trees that lined the hills in Alabama. It brought him back to the smell of spring.
"Just be ready for me to call," he said.
"I always am," Katie responded.
Ryder placed his hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her face as he got close.
Katie broke free from his grip and walked to the pilot's seat. "Don't get yourself killed," she said dully.
Ryder sighed. "I'll be back before you know it," he said.
Walking down the exit ramp, Ryder looked back into the ship hoping to see Katie there wishing him safe travels, but she wasn't there.
The group began their journey into the mountains towards the ISIS factory.
They reached the base of the mountain range. They were brown and rocky. Very few vegetation lived on their sides. Layers of earth that were different shades of brown, red, and orange made up each of the mountains. In the middle, a narrow path made itself visible as the group gradually got closer to the mountains.
"Looks like this is it," said Nero to Ryder and the group. The two were at the front of the group leading them.
Ryder nodded and proceeded to walk to the path. Once they were on it, Ryder told the group, "If you know any abilities that hide your presence, use them now."
Ryder activated his Force camouflage and suppression then continued forward. Two hours passed until they came upon a makeshift gate that had two guys that looked around twenty standing guard. The gate was just two poles with a skull on top with a sign that read, "Stay out or die." They were talking about a girl they had seen earlier and how attractive she was.
"I swear man, she wasn't a titan," said the one on the left.
The one of the right quickly responded saying, "Good. Cause I'm not trying to have titan babies. That would get me killed."
Back at the group, Murdoch chuckled and said softly, "I can't believe that this is what they're talking about."
"Focus up," Ryder said. "I'm going to see if these are the only two around. If they are, we take them out."
He closed his eyes and focused on his shadow expanding out towards the factory and his sides for one-hundred meters. With his Force shadow, he could feel the presence of anyone that was inside his shadow.
Ryder turned to his original partners. "Nero and Murdoch. Take them out."
Within a few seconds, Murdoch had his Zanpakto through his target's chest, and Nero had pierced the other in the heart with his kagune. Ryder and the other rejoined the two.
"Okay. Up ahead, the path splits into two. Murdoch and Skibo will take the path to the left that leads to the factories, and the rest will go with me to the right. Any questions?"
No one said a word.
"Let's move out then," finalized Ryder.
Everyone followed him on the path. After a minute or so, the path split into two. Ryder, Nero, and Hunter took the right path, and Murdoch and Skibo took the other.
Skibo and Murdoch ran on that path for a few minutes before they came upon a large, steel, square building that had smoke coming from a chimney up top. Instead of a front door, there were two roll up, garage doors side by side that were already rolled up.
Inside, shadows danced on the wall as fire flickered and waved in the distance, but no sound could be heard from the inside.
Murdoch and Skibo slowly crept up to the factory and peeked in from the doors. They didn't see a single soul. Murdoch pointed inside with a finger and began walking forward with Skibo behind him.
The inside was not very big. It had stations for workers to work in. Some were sized for normal size humans, and others were sized for titans. There were offices and a fenced off area in one corner. The two made their way to the fenced off area. They looked down and their eyes immediately grew two sizes.
Inside the fenced off area was a large, deep pit. Down in the pit were conveyer belts with large weapon, ship, and droid parts. To top it all off, it wasn't other machines assembling them. A multitude of titans at least twelve feet tall were putting them together.
Ryder, Hunter, and Nero were running down their path and came upon what looked like an old, stone castle. It had three towers that were high enough to look out for miles.
"Zorg has to be in that castle," said Nero.
Ryder had his eyes closed trying to sense where Zorg was. The entire castle was surrounded by an ominous aura that felt heavy and cold. The aura came from the middle tower. It was strong, wild, and yet calm all at the same time.
Ryder opened his eyes with his Mangekyo Sharingan activated. "He's in the middle tower," he said with a confused look on his face.
Noticing that look, Nero asked him, "What's wrong?"
Ryder took a second before answering. "I didn't think that his aura would be so strong… or calm." He shook it off and said, "Anyways, we need to get closer to the castle."
Inside the middle tower of the castle, two dark figures sat at a table with cards in their hands. A single candle flickered in the middle of the table. In the corner of the room was another figure. The only difference was that this figure was curled up into the fetal position and was facing that corner.
"Khilor, did you feel that?" asked one of the figures.
Khilor smiled and said, "You know what to do, Slade."
Slade stood up and left the room. Khilor looked over at the other figure in the corner.
"You hear that, Blair? Looks like we have some company." Khilor stood up and walked to the window and said, "This is about to get real interesting."
Murdoch and Skibo jumped down into pit to where all the titans were working. The sudden appearance of them startled a few titans, and they ran away.
"Looks like these guys don't like quick movements," said Skibo.
"Hey, come back!" yelled Murdoch. However, the titans kept running.
He turned around and walked up to the few other titans that remained and asked, "Who made y'all do this?"
They did nothing and kept putting together the parts that they were assigned to do.
Suddenly, a titan screamed.
Then another. Soon, they were all screaming in unison.
"Can you cut that out!" yelled Skibo.
"Surely," said a voice out of nowhere.
A green light appeared deep inside the large area. It bolted to one titan than another. At each stop, he killed a titan that was screaming by slicing its head off with a katana or stabbing it through the chest or other vital areas.
Murdoch and Skibo quickly turn to face him. "What the hell was that for!" screamed out Murdoch.
The intruder was wearing a black robe with white undergarments. They looked like Murdoch's classic Shinigami robes. The most unsettling thing about his appearance was the green aura surrounding him. His skin complexion looked like it had a hint of red in it. Around his eyes were veins that protruded from his face, and his eyes were just white. They didn't have any pupils.
"Let me introduce myself," he said. "I'm Slade. One of the ten degrees of ISIS. And my job is to kill the two of you while my boss takes care of your friends up there." He pointed up out of the pit.
Skibo busted out saying, "But why did you just kill these titans! They're people too, and they didn't do anything wrong!"
In a flash of green light, Slade vanished then quickly reappeared behind Skibo and said, "Cause they're my slaves, and I can do what I want with them."
With a strong kick to Skibo's side, he sent him through one of the stone columns that was holding up the large area.
Murdoch quickly drew his sword and attacked Slade with a powerful swing, but Slade dodged, vanished, then reappear above Murdoch this time.
Grasping his hands together, he swung down right behind the head of Murdoch making his body slam face first into the ground.
Skibo had quickly recovered and was building up his chi. Right when Slade slammed Murdoch into the ground, Skibo sent at least a dozen small chi blast straight at Slade. Slade dodge each and every one of them, but Skibo noticed that he was starting to keep up with his speed. Even though each of them missed, every chi blast was closer to Slade than the last.
Murdoch stood up and said, "Fuck it. Let's go all out, Skibo. This guy is good."
He held out his sword in front of him, and it began to glow a bright yellow. "Scatter," he said. Starting at the tip of the sword, it slowly dissolved into a thousand pink petals until it got to the hilt.
Skibo finished powering up as chi was now bursting out from him making his hair stand up and clothes wave as if there was a powerful gust of wind hitting only him. It looked like a clearish white aura that took the shape of a flame surrounded him.
Quickly, Skibo dashed towards Slade who readied his defenses. Skibo planted his left foot and threw a hard punch with his right hand into Slade's stomach. The punch was so strong it sent a visible shock wave out of the back side of Slade. However, Slade used the palm of his hands to catch the punch to weaken the hit. Being caught off guard, Slade's legs were swept from beneath him, and he was kicked in the chest high into the air.
Waiting for Slade in the air were Murdoch's petals. They formed a giant fist and slammed Slade down into the ground. Upon hitting the ground, Skibo released a Big Bang attack. A blue sphere of chi rushed towards Slade, and upon impact, it exploded into a bigger sphere of destruction.
The smoke from the Big Bang Cannon cleared.
Murdoch and Skibo could see Slade slowly rise to his feet. Staggering a little, Slade lifted his head and stared at his two opponents. "That's not gonna cut it for me, boys," he said confidently.
Widening his stance and bending his knees, Slade clenched his fists and brought them up slightly. Drawing out more power, rocks and dirt began to swirl around him. His face began to strain again as his pupils vanished once more. "Fifth Gate: The Gate of Closing. Open!" he yelled.
A darker green aura exploded around him. "His power has drastically sky rocketed," Skibo informed Murdoch.
"Okay, stay on your toes," replied Murdoch.
Slade began weaving a few hand signs then yelled, "Light Style: Illuminating Mini Moon!"
He placed his palms on the rock floor. Suddenly, rocks began rising and smashing together at a single point forming a sphere. Once it got to about two meters in diameter, it stopped growing. Slade then thrusted his hands towards the spherical rock, and a beam of light shot straight at it from his palms.
The "Mini Moon" absorbed the light and produced its own light so bright that it made it impossible for Murdoch and Skibo to see.
Using this to his advantage, Slade dashed towards Murdoch and kicked him into the air. Moving so fast, Slade kicked and punched him multiple times while suspended in air. Finally, Slade moved in for one last punch in the face, but quickly changed to a punch in the gut.
Murdoch was sent straight to the ground, but before he could hit the ground, Slade yanked him back up into the sky with a wrist wrap that he had wrapped around Murdoch while attacking him in the air. With Murdoch coming back up into the sky, Slade kicked Murdoch with all his strength into the ground. The kick is so powerful that it left a large crater around Murdoch who was now unconscious on the ground. There were cuts all over him with some sort of black substance oozing from them.
Finally, the light of the Mini Moon died out. Skibo rubbed his eyes, and his vision slowly came back. Out of the corner of his eye, Skibo could see Murdoch lying on the ground unconscious. With a little energy left, Slade dashed towards Skibo who was ready to take on Slade.
Slade leaped and did a round-house kick on Skibo, but right before he made contact, Skibo yelled out, "Full Counter!"
Suddenly, Slade was blasted back into a wall with two times as much force that was in his kick. Slowly getting to his feet, Slade's green aura disappeared.
"This is getting fun," he muttered with a smile.
Slowly, his black pupils swirled into red pupils with a black iris and three black tomes around them. Then, they changed again into a design that looked like a black and red whirlpool.
"The Mangekyo," said Skibo under his breath.
"Time for you to experience the fear of death," said Slade. A yellow smoke gathered around him and formed what looked like a ribcage.
Skibo flew up to Slade and began throwing punches and kicks.
Right jab.
Left hook.
Right knee.
Left roundhouse.
After a few combinations, Skibo jumped back to assess the damage done. For some reason, he felt like he was attacking a steel wall, and just like if he was, he didn't afflict any damage to Slade.
Laughing, Slade said, "You can't win against my Susanoo!" As he said that, the yellow smoke took the form of the upper half of a skeleton then suddenly, it cladded itself in armor. Its helmet left one of its eyes exposed to show off Slade's Sharingan.
Skibo had heard stories about Susanoos and how they were an ultimate defense. He could only think of one thing that would be able to beat that behemoth.
Skibo created more space between him and Slade by flying back further. He began to power up his chi. "Get ready, Slade! This is my final attack!"
"Done so soon?!" he yelled back. "I was just getting started!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" yelled Skibo coming close to his maximum power.
"What's this?" questioned Slade. He was staring at Skibo as he was powering up, but his hair began flickering gold then back to brown.
"Haaaa!" Skibo jumped up and kicked towards Slade while he was still far away. Instead of a whiff, chi in the shape of a crescent moon was sent towards Slade. The attack collided with the Susanoo and caused a cloud of dust to rise. Skibo immediately did two more kicks then extended his arms to his side.
"Final!" he yelled raising his chi. He brought the bottom of his palms together and aimed at Slade.
"Flash!"
A thick beam of golden chi shot from his palms and collided with Slade. Skibo was planning on keeping his attack going until he no longer had any chi left.
Slade was taking the brunt of the attack inside his Susanoo. His feet were dug into the ground, and his arms were extended to help support the Susanoo and fend off the Final Flash.
The yellow armor of the Susanoo began cracking.
"Where did all this strength come from?" Slade muttered to himself. "No worries. I still have my trump card."
Skibo was almost out of chi, but he knew he couldn't stop. He looked over at Murdoch and saw him lying on the ground covered in blood and some black liquid.
"What the fuck is that?" he muttered.
As he looked back at Slade, he noticed how the Susanoo's Sharingan was flexed and was bigger than before.
Suddenly, the Susanoo burst into smoke, and Slade was gone. Skibo began looking around him frantically, "Where the hell are you?!" All he heard was a laugh all around him.
Twenty meters in front of him, smoke began to pile together and formed a humanoid figure. Color began appearing, and Slade appeared where there was once only smoke.
"Congratulations on falling under the powerful genjutsu of the Sharingan," Slade snickered as he dispersed into smoke that rushed Skibo. The smoke was hot, and it felt like a sharp slice.
Skibo closed his eyes and fell to his knees. He reopened them and saw Slade standing twenty yards away with a thick sword that had teeth on its blade stretched all the way to him. The blade quickly contracted back to a normal three-foot blade.
"So easy," said Slade and he sheathed his sword. "Don't bleed all over our factory will ya."
Slade took off and ran into the darkness of the factory room they were in.
Skibo felt his eyes get heavy as their vision slowly began to fade. He tumbled onto the ground, and involuntarily, his eyes closed.
Up on the surface of Luminous, Ryder, Nero, and Hunter had gotten fairly close to the castle. They were behind a large boulder studying the castle and its towers.
Look at the entrance to the castle, Ryder.
Ryder looked back at the others and said, "This is no longer a hide and assassinate mission. We have to kill him at all cost."
"Why's that?" asked Hunter.
Ryder took out his Revan mask and put it on. He then pointed towards the front door of the castle where two figures stood.
One was athletically built with black hair, and he wore what looked like black pants and tank top with a gray flak jacket. Metal arm guards covered the top his hands and forearms. Next to him was another figure slouched over that looked like it had its hands bound.
"That's ISIS's top fighter, Khilor. He led the attack on the US academy a few years ago."
"Here's my question," said Nero. "What are we waiting for?"
"You know how dangerous he is," said Ryder. "We have to be careful."
"Then let's just go all out from the beginning," he responded.
"It's not as simple as that. Power alone will not beat him. We need strategy," explained Ryder.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," yelled a voice in the distant.
Ryder looked at Khilor. "He knows we're here."
"Looks like the strategy will have to wait," said Hunter.
Nero stood up.
"Just try to use feint attacks, Nero," said Ryder standing up too.
Nero jumped out into a large opening that was in front of the castle. Ryder and Hunter followed soon after. Ryder had both lightsabers in hand. Hunter had his black katana drawn with black lines on his face and arms showing that he is already using the power of Lucifer. Nero was just standing there like he normally did. Looking calm and collected with no weapon in hand.
"Look who we have here," mocked Khilor. "Is this the US A-team? Oh wait, you turned on them and now work for the Council of Anubis. I always wondered how that happened?"
Ryder stepped forward and said, "You don't deserve explanations. Just death."
"Wow," Khilor said. "That's a bold statement. What if I told you that you deserved the same thing? I mean, you have killed my friends and loved ones. You single handedly ruined my life. I feel like those are grounds for your death."
Nero grew out his five kagunes as a hard, black shell formed on his back and around the top of his face creating a beak like structure over his nose.
"Ryder, if he attacks, I kill the hostage," said Khilor with a chidori extended towards the other figure. He was dressed in all white. White pants, shirt, and shoes. He looked like he just came from a psych ward.
Ryder put his arm out in front of Nero. "Why don't you let him go?" asked Ryder.
"Well if you say so," Khilor responded with a grin.
He broke the chain holding the hostage's hands together, pointed at Ryder and said, "Blair. Dinner."
The newly freed man turned towards and Ryder and the others. His green eyes brightened his pale, pasty skin tone of his face. Black bangs hung down in between his eyes, and he had teal line extend down from the lower part of his eyes.
Blair slowly straightened up and took a few steps forward. As if it was natural, half of a white helmet suddenly began to form on the top left side of his head (it resembled the helmet of Darth Vader, except white). He drew his sword and pointed at Ryder.
Ryder responded by igniting his purple and red lightsabers and got into his form five stance.
"Blair, you might want to power up," said Khilor from the back.
Blair simply nodded.
Pointing his sword towards Ryder, Blair said, "Imprison. Murcielago."
Suddenly, a black aura exploded from Blair and scattered around everyone like rain. Once it stopped, Blair's white shirt had turned into a long white robe with a black line running down the middle. Two long, black wings extended from his back, and his helmet had two large horns extending outward is now sitting on top his head. The teal lines beneath his eyes also widened and became longer.
He dashed towards Ryder and the others swinging his sword. With both lightsabers, Ryder began blocking and tried to find an opening to attack. Nero started stabbing and slicing at Blair to try and get him somehow, but Blair would use his wings to dodge by flying or doing some crazy maneuver.
Hunter composed himself and attacked with his uncanny sword and shadows, but before he could get to Blair, he was attacked by a fury of green energy javelins.
Ryder, with his Mangekyo activated, tried putting Blair under a genjutsu, but it didn't work. He jumped back and used the Force to throw Blair up against the castle; however, Blair's wings allowed him to stabilize and fly back down into the heat of the fight almost instantly.
The black plating on Nero grew all around him and extended off him like a tail; except the tail resembled a wide tail with spider legs. With a newfound burst of speed, Nero closed in on Blair and started to attack him with thicker kagune. Ryder sat back weaving hand signs then said, "Great Fire Annihilation Jutsu!" Ryder began to breathe out a tremendous amount of fire that surrounded Blair. Nero was just fast enough to jump out of the way.
After a few seconds of breathing fire onto Blair, Ryder stopped and began weaving a new set of hand signs. Suddenly, Blair's wings fanned the fire away.
"Lightning Style: Hell Stab One," said Ryder with his index finger pointed at Blair. Lightning then surrounded his hand and crackled all around him.
Ryder bolted towards Blair and jabbed at his heart, but Blair was still fast enough to dodge. However, this wouldn't stop Ryder from trying to get him. With each back handspring or side jump, Ryder had a strike that could fatally wound Blair.
After a few dips and dodges from Blair, Hunter suddenly appeared out from a shadow behind Blair and sliced down Blair's back making him stick out his chest in pain.
Given the opportunity, Ryder thrusted his hand right through Blair's chest. He slowly collapsed to the ground as Ryder's hand slid from out his chest.
Behind them, Khilor was clapping and said, "Wow. That took a lot longer than I expected!"
Ryder grabbed his lightsaber and walked over to Khilor. He held it up to his neck and said, "You're next, demon."
"Don't act like you can lay a finger on me," Khilor said in reply. His eyes turned from a blue to a piercing crimson red as the Mangekyo Sharingan appeared. "That's right. You're not the only one with these eyes."
He closed his left eye then opened it saying, "Amaterasu." A black flame appeared on Ryder's sleeve, so he quickly tore it off revealing a small burn on his forearm.
Khilor jumped towards Ryder throwing a few punches. Ryder quickly attached his lightsaber to his belt then blocked each one of Khilor's attacks thanks to his Sharingan.
Nero zoomed in and began to jab with his kagune, but Khilor dodged the first one then grabbed a second jabbing kagune to propel himself towards Hunter with a kunai in hand.
Hunter sent one of his shadows directly towards Khilor. Using wind manipulation, Khilor pushed himself above the shadow and landed on it sliding towards Hunter. He threw the kunai he was holding at Hunter who deflected it, then drew another to prepare for a little "sword" fight.
Ryder was using the Force to throw random debris around him at Khilor, but it was no prevail thanks to the Sharingan.
Next, he tried a few other jutsu. After weaving hand signs, Ryder held out one hand and yelled, "Gale Style: Laser Circus!"
Multiple streams of black lightning bolted towards Khilor, but without using any hand seals he dispersed some saying, "Wind Style: Steroid Blanks!"
A powerful burst of wind was released from Khilor's mouth. Then he dodged the rest by jumping up on the top of the castle.
"Isn't this fun, old pal?" mocked Khilor.
Finishing a set of hand signs, Ryder said, "Secret Technique: Rising Dragon Storm!"
Curious, Khilor asked to himself, "Ah, what's this?"
Two streams of black clouds shot out from Ryder's hands at surprising speeds. Each stream of clouds coiled and circled around each other until they surrounded Khilor who hadn't moved a single inch. Black and white lightning started flashing from the inside of the clouds. Then Ryder did one more hand sign causing the black clouds to form a pillar. All the electricity concentrated into one bolt of black lightning striking Khilor head on.
The black clouds dispersed and to everyone's dismay, Khilor was still standing. However, the upper body of a purple Susanoo now surrounded him. "What did I say, Ryder? Don't act like you can lay a finger on me." An orange chakra cloak suddenly surrounded Khilor. His Susanoo also grew whiskers and other foxlike features.
"This is my nine-tails chakra mode. I have obtained unlimited power, Ryder. Join ISIS, and we can overthrow the Emperor. We can rule the galaxy as equals!"
Ryder sneered at Khilor and activated his own orange Susanoo. "Fucking die already!"
Khilor shook his head and said, "I tried."
Diminishing his Susanoo to just a haze around him, Khilor bolted directly towards Ryder, but before Ryder could notice what he did, Khilor was already in front of him. His hand was on Ryder's mask as he was looking directly into Khilor Mangekyo. Ryder's vision went completely red.
Ryder opened his eyes to see a ceiling painted white. Next to him, a young boy with black hair and blue eyes shook him saying, "Wake up! Mommy and Daddy are back from their trip!"
Ryder slowly eased out of bed and put on his favorite shirt. It was an Auburn Football shirt. "Connor, wait up for me," he whined. Connor stopped at the top of the stairs to wait on his little brother.
He could over hear his parents and someone else talking down the stairs in the kitchen. He focused his hearing and made out:
"It's the tailed beast that Thatcher put inside her isn't it," their dad said.
"We don't know that," said an unknown voice.
"I don't think so," said the mother. "If he was coming for me, he would've already made his move. He'd be trying to take me over right now."
"Regardless if he is or isn't going for you right now, the committee believes that he IS going for your sons. Or at least he's preparing to go for them. I don't know how he figured out how powerful they are, but he wants them. With both of them in the same area, it creates a better opportunity for him to get them, and the committee thinks that you're putting the whole nation in danger by keeping them together. The head of the committee is on his way right now," said the unknown voice.
"I'm not letting you separate my boy!" yelled the mother.
"Look. I know you don't want to do this, but this could be good for them too. You can train Connor to become a strong ninja, and I think that his potential is high enough to even develop many other powers. Meanwhile, Ryder can develop into a powerful Jedi and ninja. Hell, he could even take over as a Jinchuriki," said the unknown voice.
"I'm not letting them put the fox inside of Ryder. He's too young, and he hasn't even shown any promise to obtaining those powers," said the dad.
"It has to be someone in the family," said the unknown voice.
The room went silent. "What about Connor," said the mother. The room went silent again.
"I've seen his lab results. He's inherited a lot from the both of you. Especially good chakra reserves," said the unknown voice.
"That settles it," said the dad. "Connor will become the new Jinchuuriki."
"I hope he'll be able to take the pain," responded the mother.
The scene faded.
Next thing Ryder knew was that he was grasping for a pair of hands as two men in suits took him from their house. Ryder knew that he was in his older brother's head.
Connor… He was crying. He didn't want to leave his brother or his home. Ryder could feel all of Connor's emotions.
He was angry at his dad for just standing next to the door letting it all happen. He was mad at his mom for the same thing, but at least she didn't leave him. He was mad at the world for taking him away from his only brother.
The scene faded again.
Ryder opened his eyes to see a starry sky. He was strapped down onto a stone slab with some weird swirl design drawn onto his stomach. Next to him was his mother strapped down to another stone slab.
A group of men in lab coats and others in military uniforms walked closer to his mom. One with gold hair and a digital military uniform rolled up his sleeves and performed a combination of hand seals.
Suddenly, a light blue flame appeared on his fingertips. He placed his fingers on his mom's stomach then turned to the bystanders. "Y'all are going to want to step back."
They did so accordingly. The man with golden hair twisted his hand, and the swirl twisted until it looked like a normal circle.
The mom began to scream in pain. Tears rolled down her face as the undoing of the seal caused a significant strain to her body.
He yelled out to his own mother saying, "Mom! Hang in there! Don't leave me too!" Tears were running down his face too. With all his might, he was trying to break free from his restraints to save his mother.
The man took a few steps back, bit his thumb, then slammed it on the ground. A large circle made up of foreign characters appeared and so did a lot of smoke. Out of the smoke, rose a giant red fox that had nine tails.
"Do it now Ace!" yelled a bystander.
He looked at Ryder, who realized that he was watching what happened to his older brother, and said, "Sorry, kid."
Ace did a series of hand seals and extended his palm towards the giant fox. Large, golden chains with spikes on the end shot out and attached themselves to the fox. Next, Ace took the palm that the chains were coming from and placed it on the design that was on Connor's stomach.
"No… Please don't do this," Connor whimpered. He could feel the chains becoming attached to his very core. He could feel them reeling in this fox demon. With every chain link that went inside his stomach, it felt as if he was getting stabbed by a sword. Next to him, Ace passed out from overusing his chakra.
The scene faded.
Ryder was now sitting at a table within a room that was nothing but stone, eating chicken noodle soup. Across from him was his mother. She was pale and had dark bags beneath her eyes. She had looked this way ever since the Nine-tails was extracted from her.
"When are we going home, mom," asked Connor.
She didn't reply.
"Mom!" he yelled.
Tears began to fall from her face as she said, "I'm so sorry, Connor. We should've ran away from the very beginning." She got up and walked over to Connor and gave him a big hug.
A few tears rolled down his face before he asked, "We aren't going back are we?"
She didn't reply.
The scene faded.
Ryder opened his eyes to the darkness of night. He was still in his older brother's memories. Connor woke up in the middle of the night with his mom right next to him talking in her sleep. "Ryder... Ryder…"
Connor rolled back over and began thinking to himself. 'She must really love him so much more than me. Why won't she talk about me?' he thought in his head.
For the next few months, Connor would wake up in the middle of the night multiple times throughout the week hearing the same thing. Slowly, Connor began to hate his mom for not loving him. He also began to slowly hate his little brother for stealing that love. For making him endure all that pain. For not coming to rescue him. Throughout the day, it seemed like she avoided him. Skipping meals together. Avoided spending time with him. Not talking to him when they were together.
One night, Connor had a dream. It started with this man wearing a pale, white mask. Underneath it were the same red eyes that he had gotten during the ritual four years ago. He suddenly saw the masked man and his mom in the same room.
She was sitting down at the table eating soup. Connor felt as if he turned into the man with the mask and obtained a first-person view. He called out to his mom saying, "Mom, can you come here for a moment?"
She got up without saying a word and walked towards him. Once she was standing in front of him, she asked, "What's wrong, Ryder? Oops, I mean Connor."
She giggled off her mishap.
Connor felt rage boil up inside the masked man to the point where everything took a shade of red. He coated his hand with lightning, then stabbed her through the heart. Her eyes looked at him confused yet full of sadness and grief, then they rolled back into her head.
As if Connor's body came out of the masked man's body, he saw that his eyes changed in design and could feel incredible power swell inside of him.
At that moment, Connor woke up sweating. His mom hadn't noticed, so he went back to sleep. However, every time he closed his eyes, he would picture himself killing his mom then the design of his red eyes changing. This didn't just happen that night. This happened for sixteen days straight.
After sixteen days of no sleep, Connor began seeing the man with the white mask everywhere he looked. Now he would see a humanoid figure wearing all white with the mask on. It was in the windows. In his cereal. In his mirrors. Everywhere.
That dinner, he walked into the kitchen to grab some paper. It was his own birthday, but he always wrote to Ryder on that day to let him know how his year had been. Over the past few years. The letters were hateful. Connor made sure to let Ryder know how much he resented him and their father. Every year, he never got a response from him, but he kept doing it anyway. It was a little therapeutic for him.
"Mom, do you know where the pen is?" he asked searching the drawers.
She didn't answer.
"Mom?" Connor turned towards her at the table to see a humanoid figure wearing white pants and long sleeve shirt standing up looking at him. On its face was the white mask with crimson eyes. Connor's eyes widened as he backed up into the countertop. It slowly walked towards him.
"Go away. This is just another dream," he said beginning to cry.
It kept getting closer and closer.
"Mom!" he yelled.
It was now right in front of him leaning towards him to grab him. Connor quickly coated his right hand with lightning and thrusted it through the masked man's chest. With his eyes shut, he slid his hand out from the masked man's chest and heard him hit the ground with a thud.
He opened his eyes to see his mother lying dead in a blood-stained white dress. A purple haze began to form around him as he fell to his knee screaming. He fell on top of her, hugging her, wishing that he had killed himself instead.
The scene faded.
Ryder opened his eyes to Khilor staring at him with his hand on Ryder's mask. He smiled and said, "Next time, I won't leave you alive. I'll be taking this as a trophy. I think it'll look good on one of our friends." He grabbed it in a fast motion then teleported out of there using Kamui.
Ryder's orangish red Susanoo dissolved into smoke as he wiped a tear from his eye. He turned to Nero and Hunter and started walking towards them.
"What was that about, and why'd he take your mask?" asked Nero.
"He's saving us for a bigger battle. That fight wasn't entertaining enough for him. He also said that we have a mutual friend who would like that mask," explained Ryder. "Call Katie and tell her to pick us up. I'm going to check on Murdoch and Skibo. Also, take Blair in. He's our seventh Shadow." Using the Force and his chakra, Ryder sprinted off to the factory where he felt Skibo's chi spike.
Back where Nero and Hunter were, they looked at each other, then at Blair. "Something has to be going on with him," Hunter said.
"You got that right, but it's not our place to start getting nosey," replied Nero. He took out his communicator and said, "Tartarus. This is Cthulhu. Pick us up at the castle."
"Roger that, Cthulhu," she replied after a few seconds.
Ryder jumped down into the pit where he sensed Skibo and Murdoch fighting. Right when he landed, he saw Murdoch in a crater in the ground, and Skibo about thirty feet away covered in blood.
He rushed over to Skibo and turned him over onto his back. Blood was still slowly coming out of the gash on his stomach. He checked Skibo's pulse and felt it barely going. Gathering the Force into his hands, he used it to partially mend the wound back together. With the wound closed, he ran over to Murdoch.
Over all his cuts was a black liquid with a red hue to it. He picked up a little bit of it on his finger and brought it up to his nose to smell it; however, it flew back to the same wound it was covering like a magnet. Ryder checked his pulse. He could feel it faintly pulsating.
Ryder threw Murdoch over his shoulders and jumped up to the top of the pit. Using the Force, he reached out and picked up Skibo. He brought him all the way up to the top. Ryder pulled out his communicator and spoke into it, "Tartarus, I turned on my location beacon. I need you to come pick us up."
A few seconds went by before he heard her say, "Roger that Typhon. Heading there now."
Ryder picked up Skibo with the Force again and brought him outside. Within a few minutes, the Rogue Shadow lowered down above them with the boarding ramp down. Nero jumped down to the ground and picked up Skibo.
He looked at Ryder and said, "They sure did get beaten to a pulp." Ryder nodded and jumped up onto the ramp and was quickly followed by Nero.
Skibo and Murdoch were put in an incubator right next to Blair. "What makes you so sure about Blair?" asked Nero.
"I put him under a genjutsu, and we talked for a while," replied Ryder. He left the infirmary and went to the cockpit. "Let's get out of here," he said to Katie.
She looked up into his soulless eyes and said, "We've got some company on this planet that want to speak with us."
"Who is it?" he asked looking down at her.
"President Reed, General Rodan, Doctor Rogers, and Jackson," she replied.
Waiting a few seconds before he replied, he said, "Okay. Let's go."
The Rogue Shadow left the castle and headed to the other side of Luminous. After about three hours of flying, they picked up a large ship on their radar. "That's them," Katie said.
"Take us down," replied Ryder. The ship steadily lowered to the ground. Out in front of the ship were three people standing shoulder to shoulder.
The Rogue Shadow opened it loading ramp and out came Ryder, Nero, Katie, and Hunter. They walked up to the three others.
"It's good to see y'all," said President Reed. He extended his hand for a handshake.
Ryder accepted the handshake and said, "I wish it was under better circumstances though. Murdoch and two others are in critical condition right now in there." He pointed to the Rogue Shadow.
"Let's get out of the open. Follow me," said the President.
Ryder waited for Jackson and Rodan to turn and follow before he did. Something seemed off with those two. They were usually talkative with him, but they hadn't said a word yet.
The President was wearing his normal clothes. A blue suit with a red neck tie. Jackson was wearing a green tunic and pants with an orange belt. General Rodan on the other hand was wearing a marine's camo uniform. They were all clean.
Ryder felt the presence of on lookers spying on them. They passed open doors and windows to other rooms and hallways. He could hear some talk about the blood stains and tears on his purple shirt. The tear on his pants that ran over his thigh.
"Hey. Isn't that Ryder Jace. The mercenary? I heard he betrayed us," whispered a male student to his friend right before the whole group passed his open door.
"Yeah. Why is he here," replied the friend very snarkily.
Without a second thought, Nero grew one kagune and thrusted it into the control panel of the door shutting it immediately.
The President led them to the conference room on the bridge of the ship, and they sat down around a table. The President clicked a button on a remote.
A holographic screen appeared above their table. "This was taken about thirty minutes ago. I can tell you have blood and tears all over you. I don't know if you have learned teleportation techniques, but you're our number one suspect," said the President.
The video showed a Jedi with a red lightsaber slaughtering everyone at one of their hidden academies on Earth. The thing that made Ryder the top suspect was that the assassin was wearing Ryder's Revan mask. This assailant was canceling out every magic/special attack with his lightsaber and was using chi.
"You're the only one with that mask," Rodan spoke out.
"Not as of three hours ago. Katie and Nero can vouch for me. That mask was stolen from me by Khilor. He said a friend of mine would like it," explained Ryder.
"Ah, so Khilor ambushed your team here instead of it being Zorg," said Jackson.
Katie looked at Ryder. "How do they know about our mission?"
"I've been in contact with them for a few months now. A war is coming, and right now we're doing missions for the enemy," said Ryder.
"Is this true?" Jackson asked Rodan.
Rodan nodded.
He reached for his communicator and spoke into it saying, "Rogers, come in here." The door opened and in walked Dr. Rogers wearing the same lab coat as he did back when Ryder was with the US.
"Ah, good to see you again, Ryder," he said. "I trust that you've put our past behind us."
"Just go ahead and look into my mind again. You'll quickly find out if I have," Ryder replied.
Rogers smiled at Ryder then turned to the President. "He's telling the truth. That wasn't him in the video. But boy does he have a secret."
Rogers' face suddenly began turning red, and it developed red rashes quickly. Rogers started scratching his face violently just when he quickly crouched over and clutched his side.
"Say another word and I'll crush all the organs in your body," said Ryder standing behind him.
"Cut it out, Ryder!" yelled President Reed.
"That's your only warning," Ryder said to Rogers relieving him of his pain.
"You fucking maniac," said Rogers getting back up to his feet. "That information can help us win this war!"
"It's my information to tell," Ryder said to Roger.
"What are you talking about?" asked Reed "If it helps us win the war, please! Tell us."
Ryder kept his glare on Rogers and said, "Khilor's my brother. We were split up when I was three."
President Reed and Rodan quickly looked at each other. Both in disbelief and worried for their lives too.
"Don't worry, I'm still gonna kill him," Ryder said to the President.
Silence filled the room for what seemed like an hour. President Reed broke it saying, "Ok, let's sit back down. There is another thing we need to discuss."
Everyone sat back down at the table, and Dr. Rogers left the room. President Reed looked at Ryder and asked, "How's five weeks?"
Ryder nodded and said, "That'll give us enough time to recruit and train some."
Nero looked at Ryder and then at President Reed. "What are y'all talking about?"
President Reed was about to speak, but Ryder held up his hand to quiet him. "He's talking about an exodus," he said. "In five weeks, we are going to gather as many student's at that academy who want to follow us and escape. The President is going to bring a single transport cruiser and that's how we'll leave." Ryder looked at both Nero and Katie. "Any questions?"
"What if the council wakes up?" asked Nero.
"Then that's something we have to deal with. But, that ship HAS to leave no matter what," replied Ryder.
President Reed nodded. "They will be great assets for us in the upcoming war."
Nero nodded in approval.
"Well, that's all we needed to talk about. Y'all are more than welcome to stay here for a night if you want."
"Thank you, but we need to head back. It's been a long two weeks," replied Ryder.
"No problem. Hey. It was good to see all of you; I hope that y'all continue to be safe," said the President.
Ryder smiled at him, turned around, threw up his hand like he was waving and said, "We'll keep in contact."
Ryder, Nero, and Katie walked passed the sliding door and when down the elevator to the Rouge Shadow.
No one said a word on the way to Shadow.
"Ryder!" yelled someone behind them.
Ryder turned around and saw a skinny, white guy with brown hair running up to him. Ryder began laughing.
"What the fuck is up with you," he said throwing his hand towards him.
Ryder did a little hand shake and said, "It's good to see you, Jake. It's been too long."
"You're damn right about that. Luca wasn't able to come down, but he wanted me to tell you, 'You still can't ball,'" said Jake.
Ryder chuckled. "He's just jealous cause he can't shoot like me."
Jake smiled. "I miss you man. We need to get everyone back together and chill."
"For sure," Ryder responded. "When everything dies down, let's do it." Ryder extended his hand. Jake dapped him up and ended it with a hug.
"Catch ya later, brother," said Jake.
"Stay safe," responded Ryder.
Jake turned and headed back into the US ship, and Ryder left for the Rogue Shadow. He got in and walked to the cockpit. He looked at Nero and Katie and said, "Let's get out of here."
Katie nodded and turned on the ship's thrusters.
