Earned Power VS Stolen Power

Hello everyone, Merry Christmas and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! This chapter is the battle you've all been waiting for as our heroes go up against the mad scientist Kyo! But before we get to that, a couple of announcements. First, for those of you waiting on the next chapter of Spiral Flames of Lugnica, I'm afraid it's going to be delayed a bit. The reason being is that the requestor has asked for another one-shot in place of the next chapter. But worry not, the story isn't abandoned. And speaking of stories, don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! And to answer our guest review question, just read through and find out! Now on to the story!

The Border of Sikul/Label

"What, where are we?!" Kizuna asked as she looked around frantically, easily recognizing the means of their sudden change of scenery, "how did he teleport us?"

"I don't believe it was necessarily Kyo who was responsible for teleporting us," Glass commented as she, L'arc, Therese and Kizuna all looked up at the sky, "it seems it was the dragon hourglass that sent us here." The reason why became obvious pretty quickly as they saw monsters roaming around the landscape along with soldiers from both Sikul and Label engaged in battle with them. Even more telling was the mostly red and blue swirling energy in the sky.

"Kyo activated a Wave," Therese said, voicing the thoughts on everyone else's mind, "how is that even possible?"

"Forget how it's possible, we need to get back to Naofumi and the others," L'arc stated, his seriousness evident from how he used the shield hero's actual name as opposed to his nickname.

"We will, but not right now," Kizuna replied as she continued to look out on the chaos of the battlefield, "the monsters aren't just attacking here, they'll be attacking the kingdom and any other nearby settlements. As much as I hate to say it, we can't leave things here as they are. We'll need to deal with the Wave first before heading back."

"But they need our help back there," L'arc argued, "if we waste too much time here-."

"They'll manage," Kizuna barked, "we know better than most how strong they are now and the power that can be brought out once a Wave is activated. The best we can do for them right now is to have faith that they'll pull through." She readied her sword then as the swarm of monsters noticed them and began to approach. "We'll catch up with them soon enough."

At the Same Time: Misty Forest: Kyo's Mansion

"That absolute dipshit," Naofumi growled, "all that talk about how much he loves this world and what's his opening move, causing a Wave."

"It is quite a lot of trouble to go through just to separate us," Darius added as he examined his bands. Some of the pages Kyo had sent flying out earlier had attached themselves to their weapons. The armory hero was fairly certain that was the main reason they hadn't been teleported along with Kizuna and the others. They didn't remain much longer, however, as Darius shifted his bands to a new state, shredding the book pages to reveal his Demon Dragon Bands. As the name suggested they had Asian dragon designs on them that centered around the jewels on his bands.

Naofumi also shifted his shield to the Demon Dragon Shield, a large pointed black shield with yellow lines surrounding the green jewel in the center. "No doubt he left us here so that he could take the Spirit Tortoise energy we possess," Raphtalia noted as her vassal katana also shifted to disperse the pages on it, "it also seems he intends for us to follow him inside." It was an annoying situation, all things considered. The flurry of pages the mad scientist had used to keep them from being teleported also served to mask his retreat back into the mansion. It was unquestionably a trap, but one they were much better prepared for this time around.

"Good thing we have a guide this time," Rifana said before glancing down at Yomogi who'd collapsed to her knees with tears in her eyes. She hadn't moved for the last couple of minutes. "Hey, you think you can help us out here?"

"I," the green-haired swordsman started to say before narrowing her eyes and clenching her fists, "yes, I'll lead you to the heart of Kyo's lab." She stood up straight then, an angry glare fixed on her features as she began to advance into the mansion. "This way, quickly." No argument was heard as the group proceeded through the large double doors, sparing little more than a glance at the immaculate staircases of the main entrance that led up to a second floor.

"Darius," the shield hero whispered after they'd been walking for a moment, "you noticed, didn't you? Given that room comment you made?"

"Yeah," the armory hero replied, "the way he spoke and the fact that he didn't ask us what 'anime' or 'mainstream' was. And now that I think about it he didn't question what a German accent was, either. Do you think…?"

"Yeah, it's out there but it's an explanation that makes more and more sense the more I keep thinking about it. Guess we'll keep hittin' 'em with references and see what he reveals in his rants." Darius readily agreed with that as they pushed their way through another set of double doors at the other end of the main entrance. Unlike last time when Yomogi had been leading them, there was no illusion magic trying to misdirect them.

Thanks to that, she was able to guide them through the mansion very quickly to a pair of iron double doors that she herself quickly sliced through with her sword. "Do not think you can run from us, Kyo!" She yelled into the passageway to the lab, her mounting anger finally reaching a head, "you will answer for this atrocity!" The sound of the mad scientist's manic laughter came in answer to that, the source being much further in.

"Eyes peeled everyone," Naofumi instructed as they proceeded inside, "we're really on his home turf now." Everyone nodded in agreement as they walked along into the slightly darkened room. In short order they ran into a sight that was more out of a sci fi movie than a fantasy one. Numerous rows of tanks resembling bacta tanks from Star Wars, or really any kind of medical tank from a sci fi, filled the room. And they all held identical bodies suspended in eerie green liquid, bodies that resembled Trash #2.

"What's with this creepy shit," Johann commented as they cautiously moved by the tanks.

"All these people look the same, and they smell gross," Filo added as she continued to scan the room.

"Kyo spoke to me about this once," Yomogi explained, "he told me he wanted to grow replacement organs for people. It was something called 'organ transplanting' which I realize now was another lie. But he uses an alchemic process to create artificial bodies."

"Oh don't tell me," Darius groaned, "all the bodies in these tanks are homunculi?!"

"And these are the vessels he intends to transfer his soul into," Rishia thought aloud. Before anyone could ask how she knew such a thing, the bodies all suddenly started jerking, one after the other. Their eyes all began to shoot open and focused on the intruders as they raised their hands to the glass. The sound of the cracking and breaking glass roared thunderously in the enclosed space then as the tanks shattered, dumping both the liquid and their occupants out on the floor.

"GUEOOOO!" Howled the homunculi as they rose to their feet shakily, the underdeveloped muscles in their bodies making their movements look more like a horde of zombies than a living person's.

"Looks like they make for a good trap too, heads up everyone!" Naofumi exclaimed as he raised his shield while everyone else raised their own weapons. Darius summoned an odd, short scimitar with a white lion head on the bottom of the handle while Rishia pulled out several tags with red writing on them.

"EAT THIS!" Filo yelled as she charged forward and kicked the heads off of three of the homunculi. Johann used a similar attack with his taloned gauntlets as the two began leaping around the now much more spacious room. "Wow, Filo feels strong again!" The filolial cheered as she knocked another homunculi into four more.

"I feel it too," Raphtalia announced as she quickly sliced through a dozen of the oncoming enemies, "it's like my full strength has returned and then some."

"Then it's exactly like Glass told us," Darius said as he also slashed through a few closer homunculi before throwing his weapon, "with the Wave going we have access to the powers from this world and our world!" Which certainly explained why the white tiger blade he'd gotten from the Golden Tyrant's vault was performing so well as it decapitated one enemy after the other before returning to his hand.

"Lucky us," Rifana commented with no sarcasm as she slammed her kanabo club on the floor, releasing her Burning Earth spell which was augmented by the gem that had been installed on her weapon's handle. Numerous homunculi were fried by the attack and the ones that remained were either cut up by Yomogi or destroyed by the fire ofudas Rishia was throwing. "You're a good shot with those."

"Thanks Rifana," Rishia replied before giving a slightly apologetic look, "though I may have used up most of the fire ones just now."

"You've still got your magic," Naofumi reminded her, "and you just might find an opportunity to use the others here soon."

"Right, I've got more than a couple special ones for that madman," the green-haired girl replied with a nod as the group continued onward. As they advanced through the next and final door, Yomogi took the lead. And she couldn't remember the last time, if ever, that she'd been so angry when entering this room. Like the rest of his lab the walls were metal with pipework in certain areas and the large alchemic seal used for experimentation was in the middle of the room on the floor. But she paid these things no heed now.

All of her attention was focused on the one at the top of the very short staircase with tables and shelves brimming with books and jarred specimens on the other side of the railing surrounding him. Yomogi thought she'd been angry before when she found out that Darius had lied to her, but those feelings paled in comparison to the hatred she felt now. It was a hatred not only directed at the man sitting in the wooden highback chair before her but also hatred directed at herself. How could she not have known she was devoting herself to a monster, no, why didn't she let herself realize she was devoting herself to a monser.

The answer was simple: she hadn't wanted to know, hadn't wanted to shatter the image of her childhood friend she'd built up in her mind. Her reluctance had led to suffering and now she intended to correct such a horrendous error. That's why her features were set in an angered, determined line as she stopped several feet away from the man and held her weapon at the ready. "Incredible," Kyo said, his trademark grin not quite gracing his face like usual, "that guy proved to be useless even as a tool for wearing you all down. And his women were no better."

"SILENCE!" the samurai girl yelled as she launched herself towards her once childhood friend with her blade poised to take his head off.

"Yomogi wait!" Naofumi tried to warn her but was too slow as another figure with long dark hair wearing a white kimono with black underneath, darted in front of Kyo and held up a mirror. It took the full force of Yomogi's electrified swing before glowing white in response.

"Moonverse," the apparently tired figure almost slurred out as the light shone brighter. Yomogi yelped in pain as she was sent flying backwards and landed on the floor. The shield and armory heroes were quick to move in front of her as Rishia immediately checked her injuries.

"You sure love charging in like a boar, don't you," Naofumi commented before directing his next question to his compatriot, "Darius, what's the mirror in that guy's hand?"

"If you haven't guessed already, that's the vassal mirror," the armory hero informed as his analysis ability continued to send him data, "making this guy the mirror hero, or what's left of him anyway." It was true, the man wielding the vassal weapon had a vacant look in his eyes, very similar to the homunculi they'd just fought. He was so out of it there was even drool running down the side of his mouth.

"Pretty smart, right," Kyo bragged as he got up and grabbed a handful of the mirror hero's hair. Expectedly the dark-haired man didn't respond, like a puppet waiting for someone to tug on its strings. "holy and vassal weapons leave the wielder's body once they die, so I kept a tiny part of this one's soul intact. Now I have control of both him and the vassal mirror. I had hopes for that other guy and the vassal katana too, but you went and interfered with that so now I'll have to take control of that girl instead."

For obvious reasons Naofumi didn't like his gaze lingering on Raphtalia and moved in front of her. "Just try it, you basement dwelling bastard," he dared with his shield raised and his eyes narrowed.

"Oh, are you 'opposing' me," Kyo laughed as he released the mirror hero's hair, "'There's a reason 'oppose' rhymes with 'dispose'. If they get in your way, kill them!'" The puppet hero fired a blast of white light from his weapon then, the beam impacting against the cardinal hero's shield as he braced himself against the attack. Thankfully, his demon dragon shield held without any real issue but the evil genius was just getting started as his puppet began firing his beam attack randomly at the group.

"Did you just butcher one of Kefka's lines?!" Darius asked as he jumped, dodged, and rolled out of the way of the beam attacks, "if you're gonna rip something off at least do it well!" He threw his sword then which flew around like a boomerang before heading for the former hero's neck. Remarkably, his reflexes appeared to still be intact as he turned to his right and deflected the blade with his mirror.

As he leveled his weapon for another blast, though, Raphtalia swooped in from his side and swiftly decapitated him with her katana. "You will be avenged," the raccoon girl promised as the vassal mirror slipped from it's now headless owner's hands, only for him to catch it a moment later. "W-What?!"

"Raphtalia move!" Naofumi exclaimed as the former vassal hero charged up another shot. Thankfully, Rifana was able to push her out of the way in time while blocking some of the blast with her club, leaving the weapon partially scorched on one side.

"Hahahaha," Kyo cackled, "you thought cutting off his head would end him?! I'm controlling his movements, moron, he'll keep going as long as the body lasts! Now torch everything!" The mirror vassal hero fired another few shots, tearing up even more of the floor and laboratory in an attempt to hit even one of the intruders. At one point during his relentless assault, Rishia stumbled on a freshly torn swath in the floor and that was all the opportunity Kyo needed to have a blast fired in her direction.

But instead of it hitting her, the blast impacted agasint an identical mirror weapon as Darius protected Rishia from the blast. "'Escape from a world of illusions,'" he quoted before firing an even more powerful blast that tore through the bottom section of the vassal hero's body before slamming into a familiar barrier that suddenly surrounded Kyo, "'hmph, I wonder which is better?'"

"Did you just quote Vincent Valentine at me," the mad scientist asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Seemed appropriate given how much of a Doctor Hojo wannabe you are," Darius quipped with a smirk, "and I got more where that came from."

"You talk big for someone who just copies everyone else's abilities," Kyo shot back as he held out his hand and summoned a glowing orb from the remains of the mirror hero's body, "but that replica mirror along with all of your other replica weapons will break eventually. I, on the other hand, have plenty of fresh bodies and a real weapon to throw at you as many times as I like!"

"No you don't!" Rishia exclaimed as she threw an ofuda that impacted against the vassal book hero's arm.

"What sort of pathetic ofuda magic was that," Kyo sneered, "it was so weak my shield didn't even activa-huh?" What he'd missed while he was talking was the way the 'smoke' generated by the ofuda suddenly shifted and took form into a giant, monstrous face with razor sharp teeth that bit down on the soul in the mad scientist's hand.

"It's a summon ofuda," Rishia explained, "one that brings forth a soul eater." And eat it did as the soul was sucked out of Kyo's hand before it, and the soul eater, vanished into a cloud of smoke. Expectedly the vassal book wielder didn't look happy as the vassal mirror clattered to the floor, now useless to everyone present.

"'Until at last, only their lifeless corpses remained'," Naofumi quoted with a smirk of his own, "great, now you guys got me doing it. But what the heck, I get to brush up on my Xenoblade Chronicles knowledge a bit."

"Oh you must feel so proud of yourselves right now," Kyo growled before signaling with his right hand, "that was hardly my last line of defense!" A sense of déjà vu fell over several members of the two parties as the spirit tortoise familiars, the monarch guardians, emerged from the walls and stood protectively around their master. "I am the greatest scientific mind in the universe! You fools don't stand a chance!" The familiars advanced then, lumbering forward with their false weapons bared before being bashed and slashed in surprisingly quick succession.

"'Such utter lack of scientific talent,'" Darius quoted as he brandished Kizuna's sword alongside Yomogi, Rifana, Raphtalia, Filo and Johann, "now you're just throwing things at us that didn't even work the first time. Even Eggman, who you quoted, knew to try a different enemy type when the first failed."

"As if I need a new enemy type for the likes of you," Kyo shot back with an evil smirk before activating what appeared to be a giant glowing glass container above them. The nature of the 'light' became obvious as gravity increased on all of them, for a moment anyway.

"Yep, definitely forgetting last time," Naofumi almost laughed as his shield and Darius's bands switched to their spirit tortoise variants. "Even heightened gravity failed after we got these, and thanks to you activating the Wave, we now have access to our abilities from this world and our own." And as before, the energy let off by the two weapons was more than enough to allow them and their party members to move freely in the increased field of gravity.

"Of course I remember," the mad scientist cackled as the symbol on the floor beneath their feet began to glow, "did you really think I hadn't planned for this possibility! Now that you've revealed your spirit tortoise power I can take-SMAAAAAAASH!" Kyo paused at the sound of Yomogi yelling and swinging her sword, destroying the center and one of the other larger symbols on the floor. The whole rest of the symbol stopped glowing in short order as the vassal book wielder's smile fell.

"It's true, I never understood a lot of the things you did," Yomogi said while stabbing her sword into another one of the symbols, "but that doesn't mean I never learned anything. You once stressed to me the importance of keeping the large symbols intact on this circle and how it wouldn't work if even one of them was destroyed."

"You….," Kyo said in apparent disbelief, "you bitch!" The energy above their heads glowed brighter then as the monarch guardians from before reassembled themselves along with more emerging. "I was simply going to dispose of you like the used goods you are but now you've done it! I am going to put you through the most horrendous experiment I can think of, your death will not be painless!"

The armored familiars charged then with one obvious target. But another, smaller green-haired girl intercepted them and sliced the monsters apart with surprising speed and power. "You," Rishia said as she pointed her kodachi at their enemy, "won't lay a hand on our friend."

"Don't think you can get in my way you small fry!" Kyo yelled as he sent the remaining monarchs at them. 'I thought Rishia wasn't that great at swordsmanship,' Darius mused to himself as everyone fought off the familiars with said green-haired girl charging forward, 'sure she got a stat boost from the Wave but not enough for feats like these.' It was then he realized, Rishia had still been standing when super gravity was activated, before they'd switched their weapon forms. 'Of course, Hengen Musou.'

Somehow during their first battle with Kyo and this battle, the magic wielder's determination and perserverance had forced away any doubts about her ability to use the technique and now she was manipulating the energy in her body more freely than ever before. Now that Darius thought about it, he'd done something similar when he elbowed Naofumi in the stomach, after getting back some of the Spirit Tortoise's energy. "Ah, blast these useless things," Kyo yelled as he opened the vassal book, "I'll just end you all myself! Composition Style Chapter One: Bird of Flame!"

As before, a large avian-shaped flame emerged from the book and sped towards Rishia. Due to the close proximity it would be almost impossible for her to dodge the attack once it swooped down on her. Which is why instead of dodging, she continued on as an identical white flaming bird impacted against Kyo's attack, the two explosive forces canceling each other out. "What, but how," the vassal wielder seethed as he looked to see Darius with his own replica vassal book, "I analyzed our fight in the Spirit Tortoise, your replicas are supposed to be less powerful than the original!"

"Under ordinary circumstances they would be," Darius explained as he produced flaming pages to counter more of Kyo's attacks against his friends, "but I noticed something with my weapon analysis. Your vassal book's output isn't as strong as it could be, in fact the closer I look at it the more it seems the book is actually fighting your control. I don't know how you forced it to cooperate with you but it's clear that book is struggling even at this very moment, stifling it's true power."

"You think you know my true power," Kyo sneered as Rishia got up close and stabbed towards his heart, only to be sent back by the power of his shield, "this is my true power! I am not just the vassal book wielder, I am the master of any and all forms of energy! Sacred beasts, vassal weapons, cardinal weapons, I can command them all!"

"Can you," Naofumi asked as his shield began to glow, signaling the charging of its attack. Everyone wisely moved out of the way as the powerful beam fired, lighting up the entire lab as it impacted against their opponent's barrier. It held for only a moment before shattering at the same time the beam attack came to an end, fulfilling its purpose. "Looks to me like you're still lacking a bit in the mastery department."

"Why you bas-," he started to say before Darius appeared in front of him using High Quick. The cardinal hero still held the vassal book replica but had placed it on his waist for the time being. He wouldn't be needing it as Kyo panicked and summoned a purple energy sword that he swung at the armory hero but it shattered against his band when he swatted it with his arm. The vassal book wielder took a confused step back upon witnessing what had just happened.

"Hengen Musou," Darius explained as Kyo, his features for once in a state of complete shock and fear, continued to back away, "it's described as a technique for the weak that uses one's own internal Ki to fight. Very few, like Rishia, possess true talent with it and even then it's a fairly physical art that requires training. The only reason I can use it to this degree right now is thanks to the 'Ki' from the Spirit Tortoise."

"And just how is that any different from what I do?!" The madman yelled as he opened his book again to use another attack.

"Simple," Darius stated before slamming a fist into Kyo's face, shattering his glasses and knocking him into the wall. He then pinned him there with a hand to his throat. "The power we wield was a gift from Ost, we didn't ask for it and we certainly didn't steal it!" He then grabbed his enemy with his other hand and yanked him away from the wall with a throwing maneuver, sending him a good distance out into the middle of the room.

He bounced and rolled a couple of times before ending up a few feet away from Naofumi. "What we did chose was getting stronger," the shield hero said, "the hard way, with time, training and effort. We didn't spend all of our time hiding in a safe place, even Darius's copy ability requires him to take some risk because it won't do everything for him. As we are now if you dropped your mystical weapons and abilities and we dropped ours, you wouldn't stand a chance against a single one of us."

"B-Bastards," Kyo growled as the rest of the group gathered around him in a loose circle while he stood up, "I'll…show you…I was pr*cough*ed….I'd be strong."

"'Seven Seconds to the end'," Naofumi couldn't help but quote with a smirk, "let's start the countdown, Raphtalia."

"One," the katana hero begins as she rushes forward and cuts Kyo with one of her techniques, "Powder Snow." The madman grunted loudly in pain, stumbling around with snow on his wounds draining his magic power as Rishia rushed in next.

"Two," she says while landing a blow on his back before Yomogi charges in from the front.

"Three," the samurai girl says while hitting him with a powerful slash across his stomach that causes him to stagger more, barely keeping his footing. "You had me once, no longer."

"Four!" Rifana exclaims as she slams her kanabo club into Kyo so hard it sends him flying into the air.

"And Filo," the bird girl cheers as she jumps up, flying past her target before spinning and kicking him back towards his chair, "makes five!"

"And number six," Johann proclaimed as he jumped off of the highback seat and slammed his fist into the mad scientist's midsection, "is setting up the money shot!" He increased his power and sent Kyo flying once again, the man now screaming in terror and agony as he saw what was coming next.

"And lucky number seven," Naofumi said simply as he summoned his Wrath Shield in a burst of fire, "will end this!" He swings his shield arm then as Kyo's flying form slams into the weapon. In the next instant, flames engulfed what was left of their foe's body, leaving behind nothing but ashes and the altered vassal book.

And so the madman has been incinerated! Now what to do with all the other stuff in that lab? Guess we'll find out in the next chapter, until then feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas about future chapters. And don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Finally, feel free to stop in next time as our heroes deal with one last unexpected issue. 'Til then.