The Red Dragon Samurai

by Cowboy Alchemist

Samurai Jack has finally returned to the past and defeated Aku. Thousands of years later, a high school student named Kenny Kurosawa dies one night. But on that night, a mysterious sword appears before him. Reborn as a Devil by Rias Gremory; Kenny will face the dangers and perils of his new life. Will he be able to protect his love one's and stop the evils waiting for him? R&R

7. VII

("…Gotta get back…back to the past…Samurai Jack.") There's nothing but a black screen.

("I've finally returned to the past and defeated Aku.") The scene then goes down to reveal Jack. His silhouette all white with a white shadow behind him, standing in the dark with his back turned towards the viewer.

("But, I still feared for the future.") Jack is then shown looking out at the horizon from the balcony of his castle, pink Sakura leaves falling all around him and his empire. The scene then changes to show an opening in a snowbound forest with towering trees.

("Though he's gone, his shadow still remains.") The camera turned slowly to the right and stopped when it shows Jack meditating on the snow covered ground, with his right side facing the viewer. There's then a close up of the sheathed Sword, as the blade is pulled from the scabbard.

("Though I will not be around, I will not let the nightmare return.") The scene focuses only on the Sword's blade, as reflection of Jack's eyes was shown in the metal for a moment, before Aku's eyes replaced them.

("With a simple goal, the Sword was passed down to eldest child of the eldest child.") Jack's silhouette, with the sword in hand, stands on top of a hill looking at his home from a distance. But then the scene changes to where there was a woman standing in Jack's place, looking at another city of the in the 19th century.

("To be passed down throughout the times.") The scene fades into another one, this time to a man looking at a city set ablaze in the night, as American bombers fly overhead during World War 2.

("So that if Aku does comes back, there's hope.") Again, the scene changes. But this time shows Kenny's silhouette looking at Kuoh. The city lit by its neon lights in the night atmosphere.

("I've placed my fate in him, and those around him.") Kenny was now sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree while looking up at the silhouette figure a familiar young woman. The screen suddenly goes black.

("His name is Kenny Kurosawa, the Red Dragon Samurai.") Then the title burns itself into the scene, glowing red as it shines in the dark.

The Red Dragon Samurai

---

Episode VII

"9"

The menacing red eyes of the robots glowed brightly. Silence was hanging in the night all around.

The nine blue robots just stood there, perfectly spaced between each other and in the same imposing stance. Their eyes focused, blue fists clenched at their sides, whiling standing tall and straight. Across from them on the opposite sidewalk, Xuelan, Karlamine, Kenny, and Isabella could only stare at them with wonder and shock. 'How is this possible?' Kenny questioned in his head as he scanned the mafia dressed machines from head to toe.

"It would seem that human technology is vastly more advanced than we've remembered," commented Isabella with a hand on her chin.

"They do have a strange taste in fashion, though." Xuelan crossed her arms under her breast.

Kenny gives her a strange look. 'Speak for yourselves.'

Karlamine takes a step forward with a dead serious look. "That doesn't matter," she said firmly and placed a hand on her broadsword's pummel. "It's no doubt that these things are the ones who attacked us."

Little did they know at behind its red eyes within the computer brain, the robot in the middle was scanning each and every one of the four. First to be scanned was Xuelan. Observing her with red vision and a pink crosshair moving and zooming from one part of her to the other. Then it calculated her age, blood type, height, ethnicity, and distinct features, all before it concluded she was a Devil, Rook, and a non-pure blood. The words 'INVADIDE' appeared in its ocular sight.

It then scans Karlamine: INVADIDE

Then Kenny: ACCEPTED

"Target has been located." The robot suddenly said in a cold and deep tone, much to the Devils' surprise, and sent the information gathered to the others.

Karlamine stared from a few more seconds, before gritting her teeth in frustration and glared at them. "Enough of this." She growled before drawing out her sword and pointed it at them. "What are you!? Answer!"

"What we are?" The robot asked. "What we are; is none of your concern, for you are of no importance to us."

"Oh?" Xuelan smirked confidently and placed a hand on her left hip. "Is that it? Sorry, tin-head, but you dared to pick a fight with us and our House when you tried to kill us."

"That is of no importance to us."

"Then what is?" Isabella demanded with an irritated look.

The robot does nothing for a moment, then lifted up its right hand and points at Kenny. "You are our target."

"What?" Kenny asked, taken back by the robot's response. "But why?"

"It is our purpose," one of the other robots answered.

"To find you." Said another one.

"What?"

"Yes," one said. "We were created in this world for one purpose."

Kenny stared at them for a few seconds before his eyes narrowed. "If your purpose was to find me, then what is it that you're programed to do?"

"To destroy you."

Feeling something hard wrap around his leg, Kenny looked down and was shocked to see a metal chain with a weighted ball wrap around his ankle. He was suddenly pulled to the ground and then towards the robots. Gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, feeling the asphalt scratch up against his back.

Coming to a stop, he opens his eyes and saw the one who pulled him lifted up a sickle, which had the other end of the chain attached to it. Kenny quickly rolled to the left before the chain-sickle stabs him. Quickly getting on one knee and drawing the Sword, Kenny cut the chain and the ball falls off him.

But when he looked up, he saw another one charge at him with two large daggers with black handles. Kenny jumped to his feet and blocks two slashes at him. He took a step back and readies himself, only to look up to see a robot jump in the air over the previous one, holding a black kanabō war club with red spikes over its head.

Kenny jumped back in the nick of time, before the robot land and smashed the road where he once was. Seeing the perfect opportunity as he landed, Kenny charged at the machine and starts hacking and slashing.

KLANG! KLANG! KLANG!

His body froze in place with his eyes widened with shock. The blade of the Sword didn't leave a scratch, only cuts in the fabric of the trench coat. The robot looked up at him and narrows its eyes.

POW!

The hard punch to his chest sent Kenny slamming hard into a street lamp. He coughed hard with some drops of blood coming out, while sliding down to the sidewalk, holding his chest with his free hand. Trying to ignore the pain from the blow, Kenny raised his head, but saw another robot standing before him. This one held a jet black katana, blade and everything, with futuristic textures. It lifted the sword up. Kenny stands up with his back leaning against the pole and lift up his blade to block.

The robot turned its head slightly to the left.

CLASH!

It turned to the left and brings the katana down, blocking a slash from Karlamine who appeared out of nowhere. She glared and gritted her teeth while struggling to push back against the katana. The robot stared blankly at her. The sound of heeled shoes approached them. Kenny looked to the right and saw Xuelan running the two, before jumping over her comrade and delivers a kick into the robot's chin, jerking its head upwards.

The robot stumbled back a few steps before stopping. Grabbing the top of its head and hat, the thing forced it back and straight again, appearing to have not taken damage from the kick.

"You're definitely no pushover." Xuelan smirked at it.

Kenny looked puzzled at them before noticing a gloved hand offered to him by Isabella. "Come on, Kurosawa," she said with a confident smile. "It's not over yet."

He stared at her for a second before accepting the help offered. Standing back up to his feet, Kenny suddenly pushed her aside and blocked the kanabō-wielding robot's attack. Isabella was about to help out when she was forced to duck under a swinging object.

Jumping back a few meters, Isabella looked up and saw one robot with a black staff in his hands approach her before stopping a few feet away. The masked Rook stared at it from a few second and then lightly smirks. She straightens up and lifts her fists in a fighting pose. The robot stands just stood there, before another one steps out from behind it. This one was equipped with large gauntlets with big fist that had three spikes on its knuckles. Isabella looked wide-eyed for a moment, before her new opponents rushed at her.

---

CLASH!

Karlamine parried a chop aimed at her head. The robot slashes at her again horizontally, only for her to block it again. The Knight then lights her broadsword of fire and stabs at the robot. To her shock, it grabbed the flaming blade. The machine pulls her in and raised its own sword up. Karlamine quickly pulled out her dagger from behind her hips and blocks the attack.

Gritting her teeth in frustration and glaring at its red eyes, Karlamine struggles to pull her sword away from the robot while fighting against the strength of the black sword pushing down on her dagger.

Her senses suddenly kicked in as she felt an attacker coming at her from behind. Forced to let go of her own broadsword, Karlamine jumped to the side just in time to escape two daggers from cutting her in half.

Landing on her hands and launching off them in a back flip, Karlamine swiftly turns around to face the two robots with her dagger in a reverse grip. The one with her flaming sword stared at her for a moment before lifting it up to look at it. It then crushes in like nothing and throws it away. Karlamine growled angrily and yelled out a battle cry, charging at them with her dagger on fire.

---

Xuelan stood before two robots in her usual pose, with a hand on her exposed left hip and a confident smirk. "So, you two are going to challenge me, huh?" Her taunting was met with since. "Oh, I see." The Chinese Rook rushed at them. "Action speaks louder than words, then!"

The robot on the left suddenly thrusts its hands—both having a hole in the palms—out and a storm of blue flames shot out from them, creating a roaring-like sound. Xuelan was shocked and jumps up high to dodge the fires. Flipping over the two. Landing back on the street, she looked back over her shoulder to see a black whip coming right at her.

Mistakenly raising her arm, the whip wraps around it, surprising and scaring Xuelan a bit. Her whole body was suddenly thrown into high into the air over the robots. She looked down at the machines as her body was underside down in midair, seeing a second whip lashing out at her. Xuelan lights her legs on fire and kicks the whip away. She then grabbed the one around her arm and pulled it off.

Glaring down at them, Xuelan thrusts out her flaming left leg, and lets gravity takes her down towards them.

---

Time seemed to slow down when Kenny leaned back to avoid the bladed end of the chained-sickle. The scythe head of the weapon swings in a right horizontal arch, one inch away from his nose, and cutting a few strays of hairs.

Kenny staggered back a few feet to possibly distance himself from the robot's chained weapon. When he stopped, he was then forced to block the war club. Sparks fly off the black kanabō and the ancient katana as they clashed. Kenny's teeth gritted and sweat rolls down the side of his face, as he fought against the strength of the machine with a force stronger than the two Rooks with him. Even when he's Promoted to one and with the Boosted Gear still out, the extra strength wasn't enough. The robot stared at him with an unchanged blank expression.

Looking into the glass red eyes, Kenny was able to see his own snarling reflection. But then he saw another robot taking form in the eyes, approaching him from behind. To his shock, this raised its arms and pointed two large handguns right at the back of his head.

Thinking quickly and Promoting to Knight, Kenny instantly crouched down low to the ground.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

He then jumped far to the right and rolls on his back, as multiple gunshots hit the war club robot.

DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG!

Coming to a stop and looking back at it, Kenny saw the robot he was fighting stand where it was, with a lamppost shining behind it. Its body was bent back as a dozen streams of smoke came from its chest area, with arms spread out like it was going to fall over any second now. Isabella, Karlamine, and Xuelan stopped their fights for a moment, just to observe the robot with surprised looks.

The silence remained present in the air. Kenny stared at the robot with a sense of relief. That relief turned to horror when the robot brought itself standing straight again with its arms returned to its sides, as the smoke ceased. Turning around, the machine faces Kenny with its soul-piercing red eyes glowing. The teenager started to become frightened by the mechanical attackers that he took a step back from them.

Back at the girls, the robots they have faced started to walk back towards each other, never letting their locked gaze leave the Devils. The female Devils were starting to feel the fear for themselves. Not even guns could stop them? They too all started to walk slowly back together, until they were standing with Kenny.

Some of the robots, while regrouping, put away their weapons individually in different fashions. The staff was twisted before shrinking as it collapsed on itself. The daggers were sheathed behind the waists. The katana was sheathed on behind its back. The war club was tucked down into the black trench coat. The two whips retracted into the sleeves, as was the chained-sickle. Only the robots the pistols and gauntlets kept their weapons out.

They all now stood together facing Kenny and the girls. The Devils sweated out of anxiousness, as well as raised a brow in confusion, not letting their eyes leave the robots a few meters away. Xuelan, Karlamine, and Isabella, even Kenny, were panting lightly from their individual fights with the machines.

"This is taking too long,'' said one of the robots.

"The other Devils are dividing our forces."

"If the mission is to continue…"

"…then all that stand in our way must be eliminated."

Seven of the nine robots reaching behind their back, then suddenly pulled out M60 light-machine guns, and pointed at them from the hip. The one with the gauntlets pointed them forward, as the fists retracted into the gauntlets. But then, each had a tree barreled Gatling-gun popping out of it. The last one merely pointed it's pistols at them.

Kenny, as well as the other three, was shocked at this and took a step back. "Okay, fun's over," Kenny said, looking around for a means of escape. "It's time to go."

TAKATAKATAKATAKATAKATAKA!

Opening their wings and flapping down, they all avoided the barrage of bullets, as the section of sheet they were once standing at, with a part of the empty building behind was torn apart. Kenny landed back on the ground, and run down the sheet with gunfire following behind him. With fear in his eyes, he runs away as the robots sprinted after him, guns blazing.

He suddenly grabbed the side of a building and swung himself in a sharp right turn, darting into an alleyway. The path was narrow as Kenny ran down it, but he saw that it was leading to a "T" shaped alleyway behind other buildings.

Reaching the end and looking to his left, Kenny saw that the wider path stretched a ways down, before stopping at a dead-end.

"You?" Kenny whipped his head around to find the female Devils stopping to a halt, after coming from the other way. "How did you get here?" Karlamine demanded, right before bullets started zipping past them.

"Don't ask! Just Run!" All four bolted down the dark alley. A few seconds later, the robots came out of the previous alleyway and spotted them before opening fire again on them.

"We're sitting duck here!" Xuelan shouted over the gunfire and zipping super-sonic bullets. The others agreed and Isabella looked around before thinking of something.

"Karlamine, go out ahead of us and break down one of the doors!" Isabella ordered her fellow Devil, who nodded understandingly. Using her piece's speed, Karlamine reappeared meters ahead of them and approached the back door of a building. With only her dagger left, she spreads her legs and thrust it forward. For the blade, a strong vortex of wind was created and smashed the door off its hinges and break it apart.

"How did she…?" Kenny stared at the blonde female Knight in astonishment.

"Aside from fire, servants of the House of Phoenix are also able to control wind," Xuelan explained to him. They went towards Karlamine and rushed into the building, with the Knight close behind. Finding themselves in a kitchen room, the four hurried out and entered into the main area of a restaurant. Stopping to look around for a way out, Xuelan spots the main entrance to the restraint. Rushing to it, she jumps and delivers a hard kick into the door. The result was the locked door flying off.

They ran out the restaurant and headed up the road, away from the city. "Where are we going?" Kenny asked.

"Don't know." Isabella responded. But then a familiar red magic circle appeared in front of them, causing them to halt. Out of the circle appeared Rias and the rest of the peerage, before it disappeared.

"Kenny!" The redhead exclaimed upon spotting him.

"Rias? What are you—" Kenny was cut off when she suddenly hugged him tightly. He cheeks flushed as he felt her large breast press up against his chest.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!" She held him tightly out of relieving happiness.

Kenny placed his hand on her shoulders and gently pushed her away a bit. "Rias, why are you here?"

"President." The two looked to see Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko with serious expressions. Rias then saw the three other Devils behind Kenny and recognized them. Pulling away a little more and looking back at him, she then saw the cuts in his clothing, the Booster Gear and the Sword out, and a slash with dried up blood down his left side.

Pushing him gently aside, Rias took a few steps towards the girls with a murderous look. "You dare to attack my cute samurai!?" Rias' arms suddenly exploded in a cloak of her demonic powers. "I should have known that man would have tried something this low. Now you will pay!"

'That man?' Kenny questioned in his head for a brief second before shaking his head. He quickly steps between the angered redhead and the three girls with him. "Rias stop! That doesn't matter now!" He exclaimed while placing a hand on her shoulder. "We've got to get out of here. Now."

Rias and her peerage looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Kiba asked with a raised brow.

Isabella stepped forward. "I agree. Take Kurosawa with you and get out of here."

"And why should I take orders from you?" Rias snapped her head towards her angrily.

"Rias, enough!" Kenny grabbed her hand, which causes her to blush. "She's right, we've got to get away from here."

"What do you mean," Asia asked worriedly. Kenny faced her to explain when he heard an explosion behind him. All their attention was directed towards it and saw that the restraint he and the other three came out of was destroyed and bailing out smoke that extend across the road. Nothing was able to be seen, until a series of red eyes glowed through the smoke, before the robots appeared when they stepped out of it.

"W-W-What are they?" Asia asked in fear at the sight of the robots, while the others were shocked by them.

"Are those really robots," Kiba asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. And apparently they're tasked with killing me," Kenny said, scowling at the robots, causing the others to look at him in shock.

"But why?" Akeno looked at him both worriedly and confused.

"I don't know. All I know that they're programed to find and destroy me."

"In that case…" Rias swiftly blasted the nine with a large blast of her black and red demonic powers, with Akeno simultaneously summoning powerful lightning bolts and striking down on them, causing a massive explosion of the three different colors. Almost everyone stared at the destruction with wide eyes. Rias and Akeno however smiled at their handy-work, believing to have destroyed the ones who're hurting Kenny. But the two older girls' expression turned to shock and bewilderment a few seconds later.

The smoke from the destructive blast lifted, revealing the robots completely intake. The robots raised their guns.

"Into the air, quick!" No one missed a beat on Rias' orders and opened their wings and bolted into the right before the robots opened fire. They then started getting as far away from the machines as possible. However, when Kenny looked back over his shoulder, he saw the pistol-wielding one jump open on the roof of a small building. It then pointed its double pistols at them.

"WATCH OUT!" Kenny yelled, but it was too late. He cries out in pain when he felt two bullets go through his wings, one bullet for one wing. For some reason it felt like that one priest, Freed's silver rounds. Looking at his left wing, he was horrified to find a burning hole emanating from the wound. One second later, Kenny found himself falling down to earth.

"Kenny! GAH!" Rias worries from her Pawn were cut short by the sudden and intense pain she felt, as her wings were also shot through by the robot. Kiba was the next one to hit, then Xuelan, sending them both done. The rest dived down to avoid the marksman gunfire, while also trying to reach their friends and comrades.

Isabella was suddenly hit in the left wing, but the next shot must have missed or it was her own fault for flinching, because the second round struck her in the right leg. She screamed out in pain and descend rapidly.

"Isabella! Xuelan!" Karlamine called out to them, horrified that two of her closest friends were falling. This caught the attention of Kenny, as he turned his body to see the masked Rook free falling form. Out of his own instincts, he yelped painfully when he flapped his wings to push himself towards her while Promoting to a Rook. Reaching Isabella, Kenny grabbed her arm and brought her close to him before turning his body around to where he was shielding Isabella from the ground.

SHATTER!

He and the others falling break through a large glass ceiling and into a large, dark warehouse with a few boxes and other storage. Akeno and the other quickly dive through the now brock glass, and towards their friends. Karlamine grabs Xuelan's arm. Asia catches Kiba bridal style, as Akeno does the same with Rias. And Koneko goes under Kenny and places her hands on his back.

They all then slowly descend gently to the ground, with Karlamine letting Xuelan stand before letting go, Asia and Akeno placing Rias and Kiba on their backs, and Koneko lands while holding Kenny up over her head. Kenny still held Isabella his arms as they both were set down on their feet. The masked Rook winced when the pressure of standing was forced on her leg, but managed to keep balanced by holding onto Kenny, with the assistance of him holding her by the waist.

That last thought made Isabella snap her head up at him. Kenny a little confused by the sight of her blush and her surprised expression, until he saw where his hands were. "Oh!" He quickly took his hands away. "I-I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," Isabella responded, looking away from him to hind her growing blush.

"Quite the player, huh." Koneko said with a comical deadpan look.

"It's not like that!" The two older teens snapped with red faces.

Rias stands back up with her right hand holding her left shoulder in pain and discomfort. "That's it; we're out of here." She stated before turning to her Queen. "Akeno, get us out of here."

"Right." Akeno spreads her arms out and closed her eyes to conjure the teleportation circle. However, to her and everyone else's confusion the red magic circle didn't appear. This time she tried hard to make it, but nothing was happening. "It's not working?"

BANG!

The thin metal doors of the warehouse snapped open behind the group, startling them. Suddenly a black and blue blur shot out of the entrance. Kenny saw it coming at him and both the Sword and the Boosted Gear.

KLANK!

The impact was so hard that it sent Kenny on his back with a thud.

WRAP!

Suddenly the whip grabbed him by the ankle. Kenny was then thrown into the air, as his friends looked on in shock. In the air, the robot with the war club jumped at him and swung the kanabō at him. Kenny blocked it with his Sacred Gear, but he was sent flying back into a steal pillar, bending it.

He wasn't given anytime to push past the agony of the impact before being yanked out and back into the air.

SLICE!

The whip was suddenly cut off by Kiba, breaking Kenny out of its grasp. Kiba then charged at the robot with the katana and the two clashed blades. After having three of his attacks blocked, the blonde jumped high up to avoid a sideways slash. The robot stared up at him as he came back down with his sword ready to chop it in half.

"RAAAAAAAHHHH—GAH!"

A blue metal hand suddenly grabbed him by the neck.

His face showed his shock and fear as the robot held him off the ground by the throat in an iron grip. Kiba kicked his legs as he struggles to breathe and use his free hand to try and pry the robot's hand off. The mafia-dressed machine slowly tightens around him. Kiba then tries to cut and stab the arm, but was stunned when he couldn't do it.

"Eat this, bitch."

POW!

Koneko jumped at it from the right side and sent a power punch at its left cheek. However, she soon found out that the blow did nothing to the robot. She was then grabbed by her hair and slammed onto the ground by another robot. It wasn't bad enough to knock her out, but it was enough to cause some pain. While getting off her stomach, Koneko looked over her shoulder to see the large fist of the gauntlet equipped robot bring it back, preparing to punch into her face.

Suddenly both robots were hit with yellow bolts of lightning. It didn't do much of anything to them, but the attack did force the one holding Kiba to let him go and the other to step away from Koneko.

Kenny, sitting on the cold floor a few meters away from the action, looked to his left to see Akeno taking a step forward with an arm that had electricity surging held outwards. However, her usual school uniform was gone, replaced by a traditional miko attire; consisting of a white haori with red accents, a red hakama, and a pair a zōri with white tabi. He had to admit, she was very beautiful wearing it.

"Ara ara." Akeno smiled at the robots sweetly with her eyes closed. "Looks like you big boys can really take a punch." She opens them half way and licked her lips. "Let's see how long who guys a go. Fufufufufu."

"Akeno, don't!" Kenny suddenly called out to her, which made her look at him confused. "There's no way to destroy them!" He stands back up and had his Sacred Gear vanish. "We have to keep moving!"

"Has much as I understand you wanting to protect Kurosawa, Rias Gremory," Karlamine said while supporting Isabella with her right arm around her shoulder, "I'll have to agree with him; we can't fight these things if we can't destroy them."

Asia could only watch as three of her friends' battles turned into one-sided fights, as two more robots started attacking them. "What are we going to do?" She asked fearfully.

Rias gritted her teeth as she watched the robots with anger, while her mind was in conflict. What was she supposed to do, run and let these things go, continuing to hunt down Kenny? No, she wasn't going to let them touch her cute samurai. But there was no way to harm them. No way to stop them.

She watched as Kiba was forced to block the katana swinging at him, then parried the double daggers multiple times to his right, but then cries out in pain as the war club slammed hard into his back. Turning towards Koneko, Rias saw the white-haired girl jumped up to avoid the swing of the staff, only to be hit in her stomach by the gauntlet, sending her a few feet away before the metal ball end of the chained-sickle wrapped around her small waist and yack her back towards them.

The sound of gunfire and cracking brought her attention to Akeno, only to see her best friend flying rapidly in the air, dodging the deadly silver bullets and whip lashings. But then remaining robot to jump up from behind, gaining an expression of fear and shock from Akeno when she looked over her shoulder at it. She screams in agony as the robot engulfs her in a storm of blue fire.

Rias' teeth clenched against each other hard. There was no way for her to jump into the fight without leaving Asia exposed, and she couldn't have Kenny protect the blonde girl nor go into battle. Then her mind came to an idea, but it was one that she didn't like. But if she was going to save the others and Kenny then it had to be done.

"KENNY, GET OUT OF HERE!" All of her peerage, including the three of from the House of Phoenix, looked at her as if she was crazy. "Leave us and save yourself!"

"Are you out of your mind!?" He responded. "I'm not going to leave you guys!"

"Dammit Kenny, just do it!" Rias snapped and glared firmly at him, startling the black-haired teenager by her aggressiveness. "As you King, I'm giving you a direct order to run from this battlefield and get yourself away from these robots!" She gazed softens as her eyes became teary, like she was on the verge of crying. "Please, this isn't easy for me to say."

Kenny stared at her with a conflicted expression. How could he just leave them behind? He was her Pawn, he had to stay and fight. They were after him and… His eyes widened for a brief moment. Was Rias saying that he was to blame? No, the look in her eyes and her words said differently. He then looks back at the fighting going on. Even though he may not know her motives, Kenny began to realize that if he stayed around them, then they're all going to get killed.

"Dammit." Kenny then yelled out to the robots. "Hey!" All fighting came to a halt and everyone turned their attention to him. "I'm your target, not them! So catch me if you came you piece of shits!"

He grabs the handle of the large sliding doors and opened them loudly.

KA-BOOM!

A flash of lightning thunders from the outside in front of his form, as it's revealed to be raining and thunder storming in the night sky. Kenny wasted no time and ran out into the rain. The robots' eyes flashed brighter for a second, then left behind those they were fighting and started running after him.

After all of them were out of the warehouse, Rias let out a soft sigh with a regretting look. "Rias, are you crazy?" Akeno asked, her voice clearly expressed her anger and frustration. "They'll tear him apart."

"You don't think I don't know that!" Rias snapped at her. "We all know Kenny; if I didn't say it, he still would have done it. However, now that they're gone, we can attack with a more strategic plan."

"But how?" Kiba panted, exhausted from his own battle. "They're too powerful. We can't even hurt them."

"I agree," Asia said while looking at the direction Kenny went. "Rias, we need to get Kenny away from them."

"We'll have to agree with her." They looked behind them to see Isabella being supported by Karlamine as both of them and Xuelan approached the Gremory Devils. "With the unknown power of these machines, as much as it pains us to say, not even we servant of Riser Phoenix can beat them." Isabella explained. "And without any kind of weakness, the robots are unstoppable."

Even though she was miffed by the mention of that man's name, Rias couldn't disagree with them. There was no way of stopping them, not even her powers could stop the robots. They couldn't even teleport away. Why? She couldn't tell. Rias sighed. "Right. But we first have to find Kenny and get him away from them."

Behind them, a bright blue light shined.

"I think we can help you with that."

Everyone in the warehouse turned their attention towards the voice, which was also where the light was, only to cover eyes from blinding bright lights. "Who's there," Rias demanded.

---

It turned out the warehouse wasn't the only one. It was in formation with dozens of other warehouses. Where they were remained a mystery, as the rain came with a mist that covered most of the area.

Kenny's shoes splashed on the wet ground as he ran past the other warehouses. Panting heavily through his teeth as he ran as fast as he could. Behind him were the collective steps of the robots chased after him. Their red eyes glowed in the raining night atmosphere.

Four of them pulled out their light-machine guns and started firing at him.

TAKATAKATAKATAKA!

Upon hearing the rattling of the guns, Kenny Promoted to a Knight and dodged to the right, out of the way of the bullets, and speeds down between two warehouses. Going at normal speeds again, he runs down the narrow pathway, as flooding water falls off the edge of the roofs and soaked him even more than he already was. Forcing him to bring his arms up over his eyebrows to keep his vision clear.

Jumping out from between the buildings, twisting his body to the left, and coming back down to skid across the ground, Kenny started running again. After about a minute of constant running for his life, Kenny looked back over his shoulder. What he saw made him slow down to halt, panting from exhaustion. There was no one. Even with the thick mist, his Devil eyesight allowed him to see that the robots were gone.

Step!

Kenny's head snaps left towards the sound.

Step!

He then turned his right.

Step! Step! Step! Step!

He was now becoming nervous and frightened as his head whipped around in all directions as the wet footsteps came closer.

There was no one there.

But then he looked down slightly at the ground. He was surprised when he saw a series of splashes on the ground a few meters away. And they were coming closer. Gradually turning his body around, Kenny was further surprised to see multiple series of footsteps coming at him. All around him from all sides.

The robot with the staff materialized into existence as it continues to approach him. Then the one with the daggers appeared. The other seven killer machines reappeared out of thin air too, before all of them stopped two meters away from him. Kenny glanced rapidly around him with his eyes filled with terror, breathing rapidly as his sweat mixed with the rain drops hitting his face.

The nine robots were now perfectly surrounding him in a circle. Their eyes glowing bright red through the misty atmosphere. The silence in the air was enough to make a person's heart pound like a jackhammer. Kenny was frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle in fear of the robots attacking him.

In his mind, Kenny wonders why he was so scared right now. He's been in situations like this before many times. All those times he fought the Fallen Angels and when finally defeated Raynare. As he glanced from one robot to another, Kenny started to realize the true difference between all those evens compared to this moment now. Raynare's goals were to be in control; theirs was to kill him. She was one; they were nine. He was alone back then; the others and more were with him now, and even then the odds were against him.

The whips were raised up in the staff was raised flamethrower hands shot blue fires upwards.

The ball end of the chained-sickle circled around in the gauntlets clenched. The daggers were pulled out from behind.

The war club was raised up to be brought down. The katana was raised up in a reverse grip. The two pistols pointed at him.

HONK! HONK!

"Huh?" A confused Kenny looked to his left, through a spacing between two robots, towards the sound. The nine machines turned their heads as well. Coming right at them were the headlights of a vehicle, along with the sound of the engine's motor. Squinting his eyes to get a closer look, Kenny was astonished to see it was a small bus speeding their way.

He didn't even have time to fully take in the sight before having to jump out of the way, thanks to the Knight's abilities. Robots did the same, right before the bus could run into them.

Kenny lands back on the ground as the bus brakes hard, twisted around to the left, and came to a screeching halt a few meters away. The sliding door on the left side opened and revealed it to be Rias standing there. "Kenny quick, get on!" She yelled to him while gesturing him to come on board.

He stared at her for only a second before rushing towards her and hopping on the bus. However, right as the door shut, almost everyone on broad screamed and ducked down as the left side windows were shattered by a barrage of bullets. The driver slams down on the accelerator. The spinning wheels shrieked against the ground before the bus was turned around in the opposite direction and speeded away from the robots.

The machine gathered together again and looked at the bus getting away. One of them narrowed its eyes.

---

The bus breaks through a wire-fenced gate, turned sharply left, and speeds down an empty road. The vehicle travels a little way as the road becomes traveling on the edge of a cliff to their right.

Kenny sat down on one of the seats, leaning down with the Sword in his lap, and pants heavily. Rias kneeled down to his left and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That was too close," he said.

"You can say that again." A familiar voice said up front. Kenny looked up and to his surprise saw Sona looking back at him from the passenger's seat. "A second later and you'd be a corpse."

"Sona?"

"Hey there, tiger." He was lightly punched in the arm by Tsubasa, whom he found sitting next to him on the seats. "Nice to see you're still alive and kick."

"Yeah, but what are all of you guys doing here," Kenny asked before looking over his seat to see Momo and four other unfamiliar devils on board the bus.

The first one was a slim girl with long brown hair that ends in two short braids and matching colored eyes, also wearing a blue headband. The second had shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair, which featured swept bangs and a single strand of hair sticking out from the top, and brown eyes. The third was a short cute girl with brown hair in long twin ponytails, and green eyes wearing a pair of green clips in her hair and striped green stockings. The last was surprisingly a young man with messy blonde hair and grey eyes, but he wasn't wearing the male uniform blazer like Kenny and Kiba with his sleeves rolled up.

"You can thank your master's Queen for that," said Tsubaki as she drove the bus, looking at him from the mirror. Kenny looked at Akeno, who just waved and smiled at him. "Some time, ago she contacted the Student Council, saying it was an emergency."

After Asia healed the last of Isabella's wounds. She then rushed over to Kenny while Rias backed away to give her room. "Kenny, I'm going to need you to open your wings," she said as Momo and the girl with short braids gathered with her. Kenny nods and turned his back to them. He then starts to grunt, groan, and moan as the pain of opening his badly burnt wings were very great. Luckily the holes in them stopped spreading, but even still, as he keeps them open, the discomfort he felt was eating at him.

"Don't worry." Rias smiled at him with arms crossed as the girls healed him. "It'll be over shortly."

"What is going on?" Sona demanded in a stern tone. "Kenny, why are you with three members from the House of Phoenix? What were those things? And what is this I hear about them trying to kill you?"

"Long story short, Sona; those things are robots on a mission to kill me," Kenny answered her, panting a bit after Asia, Momo, and the brown haired girl completed the healing process. All of Sona's peerage looked at him in both shock and doubt, not sure what to make of it.

"Are you for real?" Tsubasa stared at him in disbelief. Kenny nods his head at her.

"Oh my," the ponytailed girl said, frightened.

"Oh, come on." The messy blonde said in an arrogant tone. "Seriously Rias, if your boyfriend here can't even hold his own, how we suppose to believe his words? For all we know, he's just—"

"Enough Saji." Sona interrupted him before she turned to Kenny. "Kenny, what do you mean by robots and their mission to kill you?"

"That's literally all I know," Kenny explained as he stood up from his seat. "They attacked me, Xuelan, Karlamine, and Isabella with the mission to destroy me. They've been hunting us down for the past hour."

As the conversation continued up front, Isabella, who was in the very back with her friends, turned her head to look out the back window. It was still pouring outside, with the mist lighting up a bit. After about a minute of staring at nothing, she soon started to see something bright. As they came closer, Isabella was shocked to see three jet black cars driving with red windows side-by-side towards them. Through the red windshields, the robots were seen.

"They're still coming!" She exclaimed.

For each of the three cars, two robots popped out of the rolled down windows and aimed their light-machine guns at the bus.

Sona sees this in the right mirror and narrowed her eyes. "Keep driving, Tsubaki," she ordered her Queen as she gets out of her seat and runs to the back of the bus. "Momo! Reya! With me!"

TAKATAKATAKATAKATAKATAKATAKATAKA!

Sona, Momo, and Reya thrust their hands out and together created a blue magic barrier behind the bus. And just in the nick of time, as the multiple rounds hit the barrier. However, they shattered into blue and orange sparks upon impact.

The robot driving the middle car see this and looked at the car to his left. That driver looked at it as the middle driver gestures with two fingers to move forward. The second driver nods and speeds ahead, with the gunners on that car halting their shooting and retreating back into the car.

Tsubaki noticed something out of the corner of eyes, only to be surprised when she looked in her side mirror and saw the second car now driving on the bus's left side. "We've got a problem," she said, looking behind her seat at them. The car suddenly rammed into the side of the bus, causing it to jerk. Tsubaki gritted her teeth in frustration and tried to push back against it.

"Another one's coming on our right, Tsubaki!" Kiba exclaimed, staring at the third car as it drives between the mountainside and the bus.

"I'll handle it," Rias proclaimed and charged demonic-power in her hand, as she walked in between two of the seats to reach the window. She was just about to blast the car, when the two robots in the back seats popped out and aimed their light-machine guns at her.

"Rias!" Kenny grabbed her by the waist and jumped backwards before the rounds destroyed the window, window frame, and anything else around it. Luckily, anyone on the side were able to get away quickly. The robots stopped firing and got back inside. The car then pushed against the side of the bus too.

Tsubaki was focused on the road ahead, until she was forced to shield herself with her arms when a barrage of bullets started destroying the windshield, side window, and anything around her. She was fortunate to not be hurt and quickly crawled out of the driver's seat to join the others in the back.

The last car behind them stopped firing and instead speeds up. It bumped into the back of the partly destroyed bus and pushed against it.

"I don't get it!" Asia screamed in terror on her knees with her eyes shut and hands on her head. "What are they trying to do!?"

Kenny stood up with Rias and looked head of the bus. Even with the left side of the windshield shattered and cracked, he was able to see that up the road ahead was medium right turn, and nothing but up sky with no land. His eyes widened.

"They're going to drive us off the road," he revealed, gaining him many gasps.

"We've got to stop the bus!" Kiba exclaimed.

"How!?" Saji retorted. The speed of the bus started to pick up, as the right turn approached them even closer.

"They're getting ready to drive over the edge!" Yelled Karlamine. Kenny glanced between them and the front of the bus. He then narrowed his eyes and made his way towards the driver's seat to pull the yellow park brakes, hoping it was enough to stop the bus.

But it was too late. The three cars suddenly slammed their brakes and let the bus roll forward. All on broad jerked forward into the air when the bus hit and broke through the road fence. The vehicle was sent flying into the air before plummeting to the sea before.

SPLASH!

Back on the road, the robots existed their cars and approached the edge of the cliff. Looking down, they all saw the bus sink completely beneath the surface. After a few short second, they suddenly opened fire at the place where the bus sank. The machine guns rattled, the mini gun gauntlets buzzed, and the pistols only let out single shots, as the clinking of the brass casing bounced and scattered on the road. The barrels blazed in the night rain, letting out flashes of light that weren't to be very well seen from a distance.

This lasted for about half a minute, before they stopped firing and lowered their guns. The target was not dead. When they scanned him, they made sure take measurements his heart rate. Kenny was still breathing. The mission was not yet over.

Right before they could jump into the water, the robots' attentions were caught by the sound of police sirens coming from the direction they came from. They knew they could take them on easily, but had to avoid drawling too much detection from the humans. They turned around and headed back to their cars.

However, one of the nine stopped and looked back at the direction of the now sunken bus. On its blue metal face, an unusual expression grew as a foreign sensation drifter in his circuits. To a normal person, it would resemble a look of regret. It shook its head and proceeded back to its car.

All three cars drove off.

---

A cold and wet sensation all over his body was the first thing he felt. Cracking his eyes open just a bit, he was able to the now clear night sky and the full moon shining down on him. Turning his head to the right, he some Rias lying unconsciously on a mound of water that glowed a brighter blue. Looking in the opposite direction, he then saw Asia in the same position. He then looked up at the sky before closing his eyes.

'Wait, what?'

Kenny suddenly jolted upward with a start. Looking around him, he was shocked to see almost everyone unconscious and on small individual mounds of glowing water drifting eastward along a seashore about ten meters away to their left. Letting out a short gasp, he takes the shinai bag off. Reaching into it, he sighed in relief when he pulls out the Sword sheathed in the scabbard. "How long was I out?" Kenny asked to no one in particular and rubbed his arms for warmth.

"About an hour." Whipping his body around, Kenny was astonished to find Sona standing on her own mound of water with her back facing him. She smiled over her shoulder at him and said, "So you're awake, huh? You are truly not one to be kept down for long. But you've been through enough tonight, so I've decided to give you a free ride."

"Thanks," Kenny said before realizing what she said. "Wait, are you doing this?"

"That's right," Sona proudly said. "As a member of the Sitri family, I've been granted the magical abilities specialized in water manipulation. It's the reason we're still alive."

"Huh?"

"You see, after the bus went off the road and over the cliff, I put up a protective barrier around all of us. And just in the nick of time before we hit the water. Letting the bus sink a little, I placed everyone in their own shielded bubble, then manipulated the ocean to push us as far away from the vehicle and far away from the robots."

"Wow." Kenny said softly. He then heard moaning to his left and looked to see Rias sitting up while rubbing her forehead. "Rias."

"Huh?" The redhead beauty looked up and glanced around her, taking in what was going. She then saw Kenny, which caused a relieving smile to form on her lips. "Kenny. It's good to see you're safe. And I see that Sona introduced you to her magic." Soon everyone else started to regain consciousness. But then they started to shiver from in the cold, with the fact that they were still soaking wet. Rias smiled at them before her face became serious and turned her attention towards the sort bespectacled girl. "Where are you taking us, Sona?"

"I'm taking us as far away from those robots and then I'll bring us back to the shore." Sona informed all of them.

"But what will we do after that," Xuelan asked, who had her hands and legs on fire to generate possible heat.

"That defiantly a concern of mine, as well." Karlamine pitched in while holding her flaming dagger close to herself. "Those things are idiots for coming at us head on, but they've proven themselves to a dangerous force. With that in mind, and with what's already occurred in the last hour proves that they're not going to stop their hunt."

"Even so," said Sona, "there's only one thing I'm concerned with."

"What's that?" Asia asked.

There was a pause from Sona before she spoke in a grim tone; "How do we fight these things?"

That one question hung over everyone's head. Most pacifically Kenny, Rias and her Peerage, and the Phoenix servants. What hope did they have against them? Was there a weakness to them that they didn't see, or was there even a weakness at all? What were they made of that made them so strong? Many other thoughts entered into their head as the group drifters along the shore, with the situation growing grimmer and grimmer.

Sona looked over her shoulder at them. Her expression softened after seeing the conflict and distress in their eyes with their heads down. She sighed before turning around to face them and said, "Kenny. I know that you've been introduced to Tsubaki, Momo, and Tsubasa; but I don't think you've met the others here." She gestures to the reddish-brown. "This here is Tomoe Meguri, my Knight."

"Hi there!" Tomoe said happily at Kenny with a wave. "It's nice to meet you, Kenny. I've heard so many good things about you." She gasped and pointed at the shinai bag in his lap. "Is that the Sword of your ancestors?"

"Yes, it is."

"Eee~! So cool!"

Sona then gestured to the braided girl from before. "My second Bishop, alongside Momo, Reya Kusaka."

"It's an honor to meet you, Kenny Kurosawa," she said in a soft-spoken voice and bowed her head respectively.

"Thank you, Reya." Kenny smiled at her before bowing his head in return. "But you can just call me Kenny." She smiled at him a silently nods.

"My Pawns, Ruruko Nimura and Saji Genshirou." Sona then introduced the ponytailed girl and the only male member of her peerage.

"So you two are pawns as well?" Kenny asked with his interest peeked. Ruruko gave him a cute smile and nods. He then widely grins. "Cool, it's nice to finally meet others just like me. My name is Kenny Kurosawa, and I hope we can work well together."

"Can it, D-bag," Saji said with a condescending grin, causing Kenny to lose his grin. "You and your little gaggle of slutty-sluts should consider yourselves thankful and blessed to be aided and saved by a distinguished group of Devils like the Sitris."

Any politeness Kenny was willing to show was gone. He only glared at the messy blonde for insulting his friends. For some reason Xuelan, Karlamine, and Isabella felt annoyed at Saji for his comments at the black-haired teen and scowls at him too.

"Aw, he's mad," Saji continued in the same arrogant tone, not noticing the Phoenix servants' looks. "Not even gay prince charming over there could protect you from me. I took up four Pawn pieces, bro."

"So?" Kenny countered with an unimpressed expression. "I have eight pieces."

"Huh!?"

"It's true," Sona said, looking at a stumbled Saji while her peerage looked surprised at Kuoh Academy's Samurai. "Kenny was able to take up all eight Pawns. Not to mention is the descendent of the time-traveling warrior I told all of you of, Samurai Jack. Always be sure to check your facts and keep a good memory before you make a complete fool of yourself."

"Wait, what? You're freaking kidding me, right," Saji asked unbelievingly. "How did this lame-ass, emo (Kenny's eye twitched) butt muncher manage that?"

"My apologies, Kenny." Sona smile at said person. "He's young. You'll have to forgive his youthful naivety. Newbies don't always appreciate the finer points of civility, do they?" She turned her head towards Saji expectantly.

Away from the conversation, Koneko stared out at the shore silently. She remained still on her mount of water as the wind brushes her hair, as if the cold didn't bother her. But then her head lifted up a bit. "We're being followed."

All heads turned towards her, alerted. Koneko points towards the mainland. Everyone looked in that direction and saw a pickup truck driving rather slowly on the empty road, going the same pace as the group.

"Is it the robots," asked Sona.

"…No," Koneko answered, not taking her eyes off the truck. "It's a man."

While Kenny wanted to ask how she could tell, he was more worried about the situation now. Why was this guy following them? He then traced his sight down the shore for a place to bring the group back to land. It wasn't a long search, as Kenny spotted a small wooden fishing dock a little ways down with no boats around it.

"Sona, do you think you get us to that dock," he asked while pointing towards it.

"What are you thinking, Kenny," Akeno asked from behind him.

Kenny shifts his body around to face the others. "I want to see if this guy is interested in us or not." He explained to them. "He must have a reason for following us, so if we can get back to land, we can comfort him."

"But what if it's the robots?" Asia started to worry a bit and the others couldn't blame her. After narrowly surviving those things, everyone was not ready to go a second round with them anytime soon.

"That's a chance we'll have to take. We can't stay out in the open like this," Kenny responded. "Besides, Koneko said it wasn't them."

Sona thought for a moment. Her stamina was decreasing rapidly after an hour of holding the water manipulation. Shivering lightly, she was cold from her wet cloth and the nightly breeze. Also, she was just as curious about what this person's agenda was, too. She lets out a sigh. "Okay, I'm taking us over there." Sona reached out her left arm and directed it to the dock. The waters they were on started to move towards it with their speed picking up.

The truck went faster with them.

The group soon reached the small dock. Having them pulled up alongside it Sona was the first to climb up and onto the dock. Then Kenny, Kiba, and Saji were the next ones up. The three Phoenix servants jumped off their mounds and landed gracefully on the wooden platform.

"Ah!" Karlamine misstep her landing and fell backwards. However, before she could tumble into the water, a large warm hand quickly grabbed hers and pulled the Knight back. She was surprised to see it was Kenny. Karlamine blushed and pulled her smaller hand away, and mumbled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Soon everyone else was on the dock. Karlamine and her companions quickly dried themselves with their fire. Akeno conjured some towels for everyone else. Asia took one and wrapped it around her shivering body. "Oh my, I'm freezing," she complained cutely. But then someone wrapped themselves around her from behind, generating a good amount of body for her. Asia smiled and turned her head to thank the person, believing it was.

She was shocked to see it was Saji holding her. "My dear, are you cold?" He asked, trying to sound both soothing and charming. "An Angel such as yourself shouldn't be left out in the freezing night, without a charming prince to hold her in the full-moon light."

"Oh…uh, I…" Asia startled to shutter awkwardly and timidly by the guy's boldness. In the background, both Momo and Ruruko pouted at the blonde girl.

"Fear not: I'll protect you from—"

SHINK!

Saji froze with his eyes wide open, when he felt a thin piece of cold metal press against the left side of his neck. "Let the poor girl go," Kenny demanded in a cold, dark tone while pressing the blade of the Sword against the blonde male's neck. "Can't you see you're making her uncomfortable?"

Kenny's response was Saji letting go of Asia and turning around to face him, with the black-haired teen lowing his sword. "Oh, you think you got that shit on lockdown?" Saji asked arrogantly. "Well, you and Yuuto aren't the only bulls in this rodeo any more, dick face. Why Sona takes a great interest in you is beyond me."

"Wait, what?"

BONK!

The thing Kenny knew was a blushing Sona delivering a swift and brutal karate-chop to Saji's head, sending him falling face first on the wooden planks. "Saji," she said in her own dark and firm tone, "I'd suggest you keep your mouth shut, as well as being on your best behavior."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"As entertaining as this is, we've got bigger fish to fry." Isabella's proclaim caught the attention of everyone as she faced the land.

They all saw the truck trailing them stop in the middle of an empty parking lot a few meters away. The headlights shined brightly in the almost complete darkness as the engine rumbled in the silence. Kenny activated the Booster Gear and approached the vehicle casually. Rias and Akeno followed him while letting out a small amount of their power from their hands, with Kiba pulling out his sword and Koneko lifting up her fists as they followed behind. Sona and her servants readied themselves for battle too, with the Phoenix servants doing the same.

Soon they all stopped about three meters away from the truck.

The truck was suddenly turned off, causing confusion among the Devils. The driver's side door opened and then closed. About three and a half feet off the ground was a pair of glowing green circles staring at the anxious group, as the shadow of a tree conceals the person.

"You can't hide forever you know." They said in an odd voice.

"Huh?" Kenny raised an eyebrow.

"Those assassins will find you," the person continued. "And when they do, they'll kill you and your friends."

Kenny narrowed his eyes and points the Sword at the person. "Who are you? And how do you know about those things?"

"I am Exdor." Stepping into the light was a bald, medium sized man with a bit of a long nose and wearing large glasses. His clothes consisted of a long white lab-coat with short sleeves that reached down to cover his feet, gray long sleeves coming out from underneath his coat, and black rubber gloves. "The one who created those monsters."

"What?" Kenny asked indigently. "You built those robots?" Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught Rias walking past him and approached Exdor, with her bangs shadowing her eyes. The crimson-haired bombshell stopped in front of him and raised a hand.

"You better have a good reason for your actions, then, Exdor!" Rias' hand ignited in black and red demonic power as she glared down at the small man intensely.

"Whoa, wait! Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait! Wait!" Exdor waved his in front of him frantically. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not what it is! Please let me explain!" He then turned his head to look left and right. "But not here. They'll get us if we say away here."

Kenny walked over to Rias' side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Rias looked at him and saw an assuring look on his face as he stared at her. She sighed, cuts off her powers, and stepped back from the man. Kenny turned to Exdor. "Where is it that we need to go?"

"The place that was their beginning," the man simply said.

---

About half an hour later, the group and Exdor were standing in front of the Future Robotics building. Kenny, Isabell, Karlamine, and Xuelan were a little surprised to be back at the place, but nonetheless followed behind scientist as he lead them into the building. Walking past the lobby, Exdor leads them to a hallway over to the left corner at the very back. Heading down the hallway before taking a left at the corner, the group passed by many doors and rooms. They then came to a halt in front of a large maximum security, steel door.

Exdor walked up to a number coded lock on the door and punched in the code. There was a loud noise, which sounded like a lack opening, which startled to the Devils. The large door gradually swung open.

Looking inside, all of the teenagers were shocked and stunned by what was revealed. "Truly sad, isn't it?" Exdor commented as he walked in.

What once was once a large laboratory filled with machinery and state-of-the-art computers, technological machines, with working stations for technicians and scientist to work at, and broads on the walls with blueprints of ideas pinned to it: was now a large indoor area that looked like a tornado hit it. There were bullet holes and cuts almost everywhere with sparks rained down from the few destroyed ceiling lights. The computers were either torn apart with parts and pieces all over the floor and desks. Some were even on fire and having sparks flying off their destroyed screens. A few tables were filled over, with the contents placed on them now all littered on the white floor, or were bent in half when something large and strong smashed them.

The group of Devils trekked into the room while taking in all the destruction and devastation.

Reya was scanning around her while walking, when there was a sudden cracking. Yelping with a jump, she looked down to see her dress shoes had stepped on some broken glass. She let out a sigh of relief.

Tsubasa, walking along side Kenny, noticed something to her right and stopped. Kenny noticed her sudden halt and stopped too. The tomboy girl then went over to a broad on the wall that was labeled "New Plans". There were several blueprints that were missing or torn apart or shot to ribbons. She then spotted one of the plans on the floor and picked it up. Holding it up to look at it for a second, Tsubasa turned her head to Kenny. "Check it out," she said to him.

Kenny walked over to her and they both looked at the blueprint together. They both were confused and surprised to see it was a robot that looked very much like a beetle; only much larger than a beetle. And with razor sharp claws. "Beetle-Droid?" Kenny reads the title, sharing a glance with Tsubasa.

"Exdor," Rias called the scientist as he stared aimlessly into space, "what is this place. This was definitely the place my cute samurai was summoned to, but are we doing here and what significance does it have to the robots?"

Exdor remained silent for a second before turning around to face them. "Because," he began, "I was the Head of Designs and Development here at Future Robotics."

"Wait," Isabella said pointing at him, "you worked here?"

"Correct. I was tasked with creating the ultimate assassins to hunt you down and destroy you, Kurosawa. But that was until two days ago; when this corporation was destroyed." He turned away as he recollected his memories and told his story. "I was known prodigy back in my home town. Passing all classes with flying colors. But it was my passion to build and create that ensured me of a bright future. After high school I attended the best technological and robotics colleges in Japan; being traded and studying from the brightest and greatest robotic designer the country had to offer. After graduation, I was offered hundreds of jobs for different companies around the world. It was then I told by one of my teachers of a new, but promising industry that was looking for people like me to create robotic breakthroughs. And so I offer myself to the company and was instantly given the job.

"For ten years, Future Robotics was my home. It was small at first, but over time it grew into what you see today. I was soon joined by people with the same passion that I had. To help build the future helpers of tomorrow. However, two years ago the founder passed away because of a terminal disease. The company soon was in the hands of more…ambitious people. The new CO believed that we were wasting time and money with smaller robots based off of animals and insects. He wanted to take the industry global, but he needed a product that would sale like the first iPhones. The CO demanded us that we build him a robot that, when sold, would place Future Robotics on the map. Permanently.

"And so all of us got together and green lit a new project; a humanoid robot that would be used as an assistant. We started off small and worked our way up for two years. Trial and error was almost everywhere in the development. Employees got injured by an arm function testing. Fires started when the computer brain frayed. Almost anything that could have gone wrong would have gone wrong. But after years of working together, the plans were complete and the first prototype was complete. We've simulated over a different situation twenty times a day for two mouths. We then created eight more, bringing the total to nine. Jokingly and affectionately, we called them the 'X-series'.

"However, everything went south about a month ago. The CO came to us and said that he has made a deal that only a fool would refuse. The money offered would be more than double of what was spent on the X-series. All we had to do was turn them into deadly assassins. The idea horrified us. How could we turn a peaceful creation into a destroyer of life? The CO threated to fire and blacklist us if we didn't comply, saying that he had powerful friends who could do it in a flash. And so we decided to go along. Replacing the friendly polymer with a stronger, lighter armor made out of Adamantium. Along with M60 light-machine guns, each one was given a different weapon of destruction, along with a chip inserted into them with many different fighting styles, in both hand-to-hand and weaponry. With also a prototype cloaking field equipped with them and—when instructed by the CO for reasons we didn't understand—placed magic barrier generators inside of them. The day before yesterday was when the assassins were completed, and the people who made the offer came to see their new toys.

"What did they look like," Kenny asked.

"We couldn't tell because they were all wearing kabuki masks. The leader thanked and congratulated us for building the robots. But then, they wanted a domination of their potential."

There was a pause in the air for a moment

"We've done our job well. Very well. They had the X-series turn their guns on us. In a hail of bullets and fire, twenty scientists were killed, include two of my closest friends, and ten were wounded. They then turned their weapons on the lab and turned it into what you now see. I was lucky to survive without a single scratch. However, I then heard the masked people talking to assassins. Saying that you, Kenny Kurosawa, was their target and were to wait for further instructions. They then just walked out of the out of the building without hurting anyone else."

All eyes stared at Exdor with different forms of expressions, while also feeling sympathy for the scientist. Asia, Ruruko, and even Akeno were on the verge of tears. Kiba gritted his teeth hard and clenched his fist tightly, feeling like he and Exdor were almost in the same boat of reasons Kiba knows very well. The Phoenix servants all had grim and somber looks on their faces, along with everyone else. Kenny tilted his down in shame. He was the reason all of this had happened. Rias looked over at him and saw the self-blaming expression on his face, knowing very well what he was beating himself for. Words weren't going to help Kenny, so Rias made and bold move and hugged him from behind, hoping it was more than enough to comfort him. She was soon joined by Akeno, who hugs his right side, and Asia hugs his left side.

Sona snapped out her dilemma and looked at the Exdor. "You said that this happened the day before yesterday," she said to him, catching the attention of everyone else. "What happen yesterday, then?"

"What came next wasn't a big shocker, as multiple things happened. The money promised by the masked people wasn't really, and due to the CO pouring so much of the industry's money into the project, we were penniless and defenseless. The works all resigned and quit their jobs out of fear of the night before. The lawsuits for the people killed, due to a product we intentionally created, were a heavy hit to us and all the debts owed for the Adamantium were only going get be paid when they've taken all that the industry owned. In the end, Future Robotics was shut down."

Kenny and the Phoenix servants' eyes widened when they remember what the CO said, before he was knocked out. So it was coming together, and the end result was this.

"Now I want to correct my mistake." Exdor said, frowning and then threw his fist up into the air. "I want to destroy my creations!" He then walked up to Kenny with a sense of hope, as the three girls hugging him backed away. "And with your help, the assassins can be defeated."

Kenny away from the scientist for a moment before turning his back towards him. "I-I can't," he said with a saddened and shamed expression. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"Wha-Wha-What?"

"Kenny?" Rias spoke, not believing what she was hearing. "What are you saying?"

"You saw what those things are capable of, Rias." Kenny said to her. "Kiba and my sword couldn't cut them; Koneko's abilities couldn't put a dent them; and you and Akeno's powers did little to nothing to them." He then turned his head towards his fellow club members. "And when they were able to, they attacked and beat you guys badly. We all almost died… All because of me." Kenny closed his eyes and looked down in despair. "I was the reason all of this is happening. I'm sorry."

"Kenny…"

"Ah! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Exdor suddenly said. "Your sword can cut them." He suddenly said, surprising the Devils in the room. "All of you can beat them."

"What?" Kenny whipped around to see Exdor walking away from them. He then kneed down and lifted up a fallen piece of the ceiling.

"Of course on your own, the Sword wouldn't cut through the Adamantium metal. Even if you were a Rook. Not unless you hit a weak point." He stands up and turned to them, holding up a rolled up blueprint. "Wala!"

"Weak point?" Karlamine asked the sort scientist. Exdor had them gather around a table that survived the destruction and then laid out the blueprint, showing it contained the plans of the X-series robot.

"When developing the assassins, we decided to give them an Achilles heel at two places. Hoping that it would give you a fighting chance against them. Here—" he pointed to the nap of the neck "—will destroy the robot completely if you can land a hit on it. And then here." He then traced his finger to the forehead, right in between where the eyes would be. "You can pop out the chip that has their killing instincts in them, then they'll be reduced to defenseless machine."

"It's certainly not a lot to go off of," Tsubaki commented with a hand on her chin.

"Well, it was mostly because we were being monitored as we worked and weren't allowed to take anything out of the laboratory, so we had to come up with a way to leave a small glimmer of hope. But do remember, these points are going to be extremely hard to get to. Also, when one of them is destroyed, the others will be alerted." Exdor then looked across from him at Kenny. "So, how about it? Will you help now?"

Kenny continued to stare between the two weak points of the X-series robots. He still felt uncertain about going up against them, even with the help from Sona and her servants. He and the Phoenix Devils faced them and they were forced to retreat after they pulled out their light-machine guns. Rias and his fellow club members were beaten badly.

His eyes widened when he remembered the time when they surrounded him. He takes in a breath and lets it out. "Yes," he answered with a grin, "I will help. But if we're going to do this, we'll have to do it one way differently. I've noticed that these think like to gang up on an opponent and overwhelm them with their attacks. If this is to be successful, we have to separate them and take them on, either one-on-one or in a small group. That way it'll be easier to take them out."

"I'm impressed Kenny," Sona said with a smirk. "That may be the best plan of action to take. In fact, I think I'll join you guys."

This surprised the others. "Are you sure Sona," Rias asked the Student Council President. "Is doesn't have to be your battle."

"But it is, Rias." Sona said. "These things destroyed school property; almost killed my Queen and servants, not to mention my friends; and are after a person who's peaked my interest. They've now made an enemy of the House of Sitri."

"The same can go for us." All heads turned towards the servants of the House of Phoenix. "We've got a bone to pick with them," stated Isabella. "Besides, we want to thank Kenny for knocking out that pig of a CO."

Rias stared at them frowning for a second, but then eventually sighed. Although she dislike the idea of having them fight with them, she knew that Kenny was going to need everyone to help. She then looked at the boy and smiled at him. "And you can always count us in, Kenny." Her voice was confident and kind, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're not alone this time. I'll fight with you, my cute samurai."

Kenny stared into her green blue eyes for a few seconds before showing her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Rias. Everyone," he said softly before his tone changed to determination. "We're not running from these things anymore. This ends now."

Exdor walked up to him and raised a hand. "High-five!"

Kenny looked at him confused. "What?"

"High-five!"

Kenny looked glanced at those around him for a moment. He then awkwardly grinned at the scientist and gave him his high-five.

Exdor then pumped his fists in the air and shouted, "WHOOOO! Yeah, let do this!"

To Be Continued…

---

{Playing Shine by Mr. Big}

[Instrumentals] The opening fades into the inside of a dark room with the moonlight coming from the window. The light moves against the wall, turning the areas that become covered by it a light blue. As it gradually shifts, it soon reveals the handle of the Sword, as the weapon leans up against the wall. The light then touches the unsheathed blade, causing it to reflect and shine off the metal.

[I never really feel quite right] Kenny, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, was out at night standing in an open plain with a few trees behind him. His hair flying in the wind and his hands in his jean's pockets as he looks upwards.

[I don't know why, all I know is there's something wrong] The scene stays like this for a moment, before switching to present a close up of his face. Showing an expression that tells the viewer he was deep in thoughts, as his black eyes weren't focused and his lips were parted a small bit.

[Every time I look at you, you seem so alive] High up on a white balcony in the night time, Rias stands there in a white sundress, with her arms on the railing as she leaned on it while looking up at the moon. She face carries a bright smile as her vixen figure is seen slightly through the dress as it and her elegant crimson hair flies in the wind gracefully while glowing into moonlight.

[Tell me how do you do it, walk me through it] The scene changes to show different images. The first was of Akeno as she smiles sweetly at the viewer in a lovely kimono, holding an umbrella in her arms with her in a bun. The next image is of Kiba as he stands in a gym, wearing Kendo equipment and the mask tucked under his armpit, giving the camera his charming smile, while in the background were many girls smiling at him back with hearts in their eyes.

[I'm following every footstep] Koneko's next shown, sitting on the sofa in the clubhouse with a piece of chocolate in her mouth, looking at the viewer blankly as she holds up her hand in a peace sign. The final image shows Asia in her nun outfit, brushing a few stray hairs behind her right as she smiles brightly, while standing in the park with the playground behind her.

[Baby on your own you take a caution step] Returning back to Rias, the camera shows her up close from the left side, with twinkling stars shining in the background. Her bright expression turned to a sad look as her gaze fell. She placed a hand on her left breast and sighs with her eyes closed.

[Do you wanna give it up?] Her eyes opened, but only half way. Showing that she's hurt in some way and sadden about something.

[But all I want is for you to SHINE~] Rias then turned her head to the left and a surprised expression appeared on her face. The scene changes to a white surrounding and the camera moves upwards, showing Kenny in his average school uniform, with his back facing the camera, with the Sword in his right hand and the scabbard in his left as his long black hair flows in the wind.

[SHINE~ down on me] The camera zoomed out to show Rias, now naked, staring at Kenny's back with her right shoulder facing the viewer and her head turned towards him.

[SHINE~ on this life this life that's burning out] A side angled view, and Kenny now is seen facing Samurai Jack, whose ghost stands a few feet from him. The camera focused on Kenny face for a movement, before witching over to Jack's. The samurai gives him a smile and disappears. Kenny lets out a sigh with his eyes closed, as he was now standing on a cliff as the sky turns orange in the afternoon.

[SHINE~] Rias, now fully dressed in her usual school uniform, walked up to his right and places a hand on his shoulder. Kenny looks at her as she gives him a smile, then Akeno comes up and stand with him too. Then Asia, Kiba, and Koneko.

[SHINE~ down on me] Kenny smiles fondly at them for a moment, before his expression quickly turned serious and he faces forward, and raised the Sword before him. The others do the same, readying themselves for battle.

[SHINE~ on this life this life that's burning out] The scene changes to show their backs and zooms out to revival Aku's towering silhouette before them, with the setting sun behind his head.

[SHINE~] The image then changes into a watercolor-like painting. Then everything fades out, as the song comes to an end.

---

Narrator: "On the next episode of The Red Dragon Samurai…."

Exdor: "Also, there's something you should know."

Kenny: "Good luck everyone."

Kiba: "Looks like it's time for round two."

Rias: "Show what you've got, machine."

Narrator: "The Red Dragon Samurai. Updates coming soon."

Xuelan: "Is that the best you've got!"

Narrator: "Only on Fanfiction."

---

And that wraps up this episode, everyone. I know it was mostly action throughout most of it, but it was all for good reason.

What did you guys think of the opening? I wanted the opening to feel like it is now in Samurai Jack now, because it fits the story as it doesn't revolve around Jack. Plus, I couldn't put in the theme song of the show for obvious reasons (it's not Jack's story).

What did you guys think of the ending song? I know that in the last episode I say I'll be using an ending song from DxD, but I just didn't think it would translate to this well. I felt that they didn't really go along with the more serious tone I'm giving the DxD series and readers won't take the story seriously anymore. So I looked around on the internet and looked up some top ten lists for anime ending. That's how I came across Shine from Mr. Big, used in Hellsing. The moment I heard this song and read the lyrics, I fell in love with it and felt it was prefect for The Red Dragon Samurai.

And so the robots hunting Kenny and his friend done are the X-series robots. X-9 is among them, as you could tell, and Exdor was the one who created them. In a way, Exdor's back story was somewhat similar to the cartoon. The things he's created turned on him and destroyed and killed. I know I copied from Attack on Titan with the weak point thing, but the power gauntlet wasn't going to enough. The gauntlet has the strength of a veteran Rook, like Koneko, Xuelan, and Isabella, and even they couldn't make a dent in them. I could have given them all power gauntlets, but that'll make the fights boring and short.

There is no update to the harem. If you still want to add a girl to the list just let me know.

That's it for now. Creating this original arc is proving to be both fun and challenging at the same time. It's not easy to come up with an original plot in an established storyline and it takes time and patience, but it's time I'm willing to spend bringing you readers some awesome episodes. Thank you for enjoying this, be sure to Review, Favorite, and Follow if you like this story. Peace out! :)