Ronin Warriors: The Second War
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Chapter Six: "The New Dynasty"

"Damn it! We've lost the Black Inferno to the Ronins and we've just lost the hold we had on New York! We've got to find a way to strike down these warriors!"

"That could be very difficult, Lady Lial, as there are strong forces protecting the Ronins and their more powerful Armor."

"Then, how do you propose that we do anything about these warriors?"

"The layout of the castle has changed tremendously since they were last here. We will be able to use our troops to overwhelm them when they become lost."

"And what if they decide to take the shortest route and blast straight through the wall?"

"Let them, master. They will meet strong opposition in these new soldiers. Gone are the days of soldiers the Ronins can kill with just their weapons. We are working on making these new soldiers even more powerful, so that even the Armor of Light will not be able to destroy them."

"Well, then. I'd say its time for you and your friends to go, Nether Spirit, and start working on this new project."

"Yes, Lady Lial."

The Nether Spirit disappeared and Lady Lial relaxed in her simple throne.

"Father, I hope you'll be pleased when I conquer the mortal world and let you back into it. I know you've wanted it for a very long time. I just hope it's not too late for the Nether Spirits to bring you back . . . . And Anubis . . . my first and only true love. Why do you insist on resisting me? You should know by now that your rightful place is here in the Dynasty with me. We were to marry; don't you remember? What's happened to you, Anubis? I don't understand!"

"Whoa, that was a trip," Ryo stated as he and the others landed in the Nether Realm.

All of a sudden, millions of soldiers appeared around the Ronins and Warlords, and Mia and Yuli ran to hide behind a rock formation. One soldier stood out from the rest. It had an exact replica of Ryo's Inferno Armor on. Behind Kayura, who was at the back of the group, another soldier stood out. It had an exact replica of Kayura's Armor of Time on.

"Ronin Warriors! To arms! Armor of Inferno! Tao chi!"

"Armor of Strata! Tao inochi!"

"Armor of Hardrock! Tao inichi!"

"Armor of Halo! Tao chi!"

"Armor of Torrent! Tao chi!"

"Dark Warlords! To arms! Armor of Time! Tao chi!"

"Armor of Corruption! Tao chi!"

"Armor of Illusion! Tao chi!"

"Armor of Venom! Tao chi!"

"Armor of Time! Tao inichi!"

As the warriors armored up, the soldiers readied themselves for attack. After the warriors finished powering up, soldiers attacked.

Ryo drew his Soul Swords from Blaze's back. "Rage of Inferno!"

The blast hit the soldier wearing the fake Inferno, but it only singed the fake Armor. A muffled voice similar to Badamon's spoke out. "Rage of Inferno!"

Ryo was thrown into the other warriors, who fell. Only Hariel remained standing. Hariel drew his swords, placed them side by side, and formed the nodatchi. He jumped high into the air, holding the nodatchi high above his head. "Thunderbolt Cut! Flare Up Now!" he cried as he brandished the battle sword. He let the energy form a fireball, then landed softly on the ground. The Ronins and Warlords were still down. Hariel swung the sword around as he released the energy. It smashed through the soldiers, wiping out a thousand easily. The only soldier unaffected was the one bearing a fake Armor of Time.

Another voice like Badamon's spoke out."Temporal Shock Wave!" The soldier jumped up into the air and brandished a kusari gama. He lobbed the weighted end at Hariel.

"Flare Up Rage of Inferno!"

"Temporal Shock Wave!"

Ryo's attack charged Kayura's kusari gama. She tossed its weighted end at the one moving toward Hariel. The weights collided; the one belonging to the soldier shattered in its hand.

Hariel pointed his nodatchi directly at the soldier. "Flashpoint!" The nodatchi started glowing and shot forth a huge bolt of white energy, which cut straight through the soldier, causing it to vanish.

By this time, the other warriors had revived and started their own battles. Ryo took on fifty Wildfire clones at once. Each of the other warriors faced fifteen clones of their own Armors each. Although Ryo was fairing well, the others were losing quickly.

Ryo called out to Hariel. "Hariel! If we all give you our power, could you use it to wipe out some of this crowd?"

"Possibly. I need all nine of you to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a circle if it's gonna work!"

All nine warriors stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Hariel jumped up, resting his feet on Ryo's right shoulder and Kayura's left shoulder (both Ryo and Kayura were standing on opposite ends of the circle, making it easy for Hariel to stand on them).

All ten Armors started glowing. Hariel absorbed as much power as he could, then jumped up, swung his nodatchi around, and released all the energy. A massive shock wave tore through the soldiers, wiping out the remaining hundreds of thousands easily.

"Damn it! I thought those soldiers would not be that easy to defeat! That damned Nether Spirit is dead if I find him!" an angry Lial screamed from her throne.

A voice boomed in. "Do not stress yourself out over this minor setback. In time, all things will come. Use more soldiers to separate the Ronin and Warlords. They should be easier to defeat then."

"Father! Of course it's you, Father! Thank you, Father. I will not disappoint you."

"I hope you can deliver on your promise, Lial. Others before you have failed. Make sure you do not become overconfident, or the Dynasty will be forever destroyed!"

"Yes, Father."

"Well, I'd say it's time for us to head for the castle. Let's go."

Ryo spoke up, "Let's not be so hasty, Kayura. There are probably traps there. And, it looks like the castle has a different layout now, so it'll be virtually impossible for us to just go straight through. I say we power down and rest for an hour or so and then try to go as a group. We'll stand a better chance then."

"Wildfire, I've never seen you so level-headed and in control of your temper. What's happened to you?"

"I think it's the new powers Sekhel gave us. They seem to have calmed down my temper."

"You just noticed that?" Rowen questioned. "I noticed that the first time we fought with these new powers."

Kale turned around, then said, "We've got company, guys. BIG company."

All ten warriors looked at what Kale saw. It was humongous. It stood about a mile tall and looked like it would be impossible to defeat. A voice boomed out, "Ronin Warriors, Dark Warlords, Hariel, you do not belong here anymore. You will either surrender your Armors and go back to the Mortal Realm or you will be forced from your Armors and be killed. Make your choice NOW!"

Hariel shouted back, "We choose to fight!"

Behind Ryo, who was now at the back of the group, another voice sounded out. It was that of Anubis. "I will not allow you to harm these warriors. To arms!"

All ten armors started glowing. Power shot from them to an apparition of Anubis, still behind Ryo. Anubis's "body" transformed into a black staff with a golden, equilateral triangle on its top. This triangle had a smaller equilateral triange cut out of it, the apex of this triangle pointing in exactly the opposite direction of the apex of the larger triangle.

"Hariel, use this staff to strike down the enemy!"

Hariel grabbed the staff gently, feeling its power coursing through his body. Instantly, the Jewel of Life Yuli wore around his neck started glowing. The rope necklace disappeared and the jewel itself flew toward the staff. It nestled itself inside the triangular hole in the staff's top. Small portions of the rope reappeared, looking as if they supported the Jewel of Life in the center of the hole. The staff started glowing, then started glowing with four symbols, each of them Japanese for a virtue. The kanji appearing in the top triangle was power and glowed red, the kanji on the lower left triangle (looking at Hariel and the staff, not Hariel looking at it) was wisdom and glowed green, the other lower triangle bore the kanji of courage, which glowed blue, and the Jewel of Life bore the kanji of life (of course!), which glowed a silverish-gold color. The pole of the staff glowed (in the usual colors) with the kanji of the remaining seven warriors whose kanji were not in the triangles: virtue, justice, loyalty, piety, serenity, obedience, and trust.

Hariel turned around, jumped up toward the creature, and prepared to deliver a devastating blow.

"Staff, destroy this vile creature!"

He held the top of the staff about two feet above his head. It sent forth a wave of energy that sliced through the creature and wiped out its entire left side. The body quickly regenerated itself.

"Pathetic!" screamed the creature as it held its right hand in the air. "Soul of Death! Destroy these warriors so that my master may have their Armors!"

The creature's body was enveloped in dark energy. The energy shot toward the warriors. Hariel simply deflected the energy with his staff's power.

"Flare Up Rage of Inferno!"

"Thunderbolt Cut!"

"Black Lightning Slash!"

"Arrow Shock Wave!"

"Iron Rock Crusher!"

"Web of Deception!"

"Snake Fang Strike!"

"Super Wave Smasher!"

"Temporal Shock Wave!"

All nine attacks impacted the wave of energy from the creature's body. All nine warriors sent a second volley of attacks at the creature, resulting in the creature stumbling back long enough for Hariel to use the full power of his staff on it.

"Staff of Light! Destroy!"

A wave of golden-white energy hit the creature, completely destroying it. Each of the ten warriors instantly became ensnared by soldiers wearing exact replicas of Hariel's Armor of Light. Hariel managed to absorb the staff into his armor and throw the orb Sekhel had given him before the soldiers disappeared with the Ronins, Warlords, and Hariel in tow.

"Mia! Yuli! Use the orb to return home! Go! Quickly!"

Yuli caught the orb and threw it to the ground. "Take us home!" A portal formed, and he and Mia walked through it. It closed as quickly as it opened.

"Yes! We did it!" a happy Lial squealed as she jumped from her throne. "Father will be pleased beyond words! Nether Spirits, take control of the warriors! I want absolute control of them by morning!"

Hey, guys! I promised a chapter today, and I delivered! There is plenty of action still coming, so hold on for awhile for more fight scenes. Like I said before, next chapter, someone dies . . . female Ryo fans will love me for this . . . . Enough of me giving away the plot!

How did you like the chapter? I love getting mail about my fic, so feel free to mail me anytime ([email protected]). If anyone has tried to contact me on ICQ at number 61821525, it was a waste of your time. I can't remember my password, and their password retrieval system isn't working for me. Try number 69622860. I'm usually on between eight and ten (eleven on Mondays, God only knows when on Fridays and Saturdays) Eastern time (five to seven [eight on Mondays] Pacific time). I'll try to remember to log into Netscape-AOL Instant Messenger from now on, but there are no promises!

As I said before, I neeed art for this fic. Anyone who is willing to help me out here (since I have absolutely no artistic talent at all) should e-mail or instant message me.

Thanks for your patience and cooperation, guys!

Beetles

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"Well done is quickly done." (Agustus Caesar, 326 BC)