Payback: Part 5
"Damn..." Cale was sweating, and his vision was blurring. 'No, I can't fail. I can't fail you now, Master Talpa...' Cale stumbled to his feet and stared with hatred at the six people who faced him. "... I'll get you now, Ronins..." His knee gave out, and he stumbled forward. But with some effort he was back on his feet again. "... I c-can't let you defeat me!" He charged painfully toward them, and lifted his sword as it vibrated with dark power. He was ready to attack, but a girl with long blue hair kicked him squarely in the jaw. He fell to the ground, and could taste blood in his mouth as they slowly surrounded him. 'No... I've failed. H-have to get away... have to...' He heard Sage yell something, and suddenly he realized what was about to happen to him. Lightning struck him, and his body surged with electricity. It seemed to last forever, but finally ceased. He opened his eyes, and blackness began to surround him. It was closing in on him, but Cale closed his eyes and welcomed it. 'Ah... my beloved darkness...'
* * * * *
"Hey, that was a pretty good kick, Amanda. Where'd you guys ever learn to fight like that anyway?" Kento walked away from Cale happily. It had been a tough battle, but it was finally over.
"I took a few lessons, but I was never that good." Amanda furrowed her brow in deep thought. "Hey, I bet some of your skill came with those gems, too!"
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be surprised. I am pretty skilled, ya know." Rowen looked around to see that everybody was ready to burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"
Sage smirked but swallowed his comment. "Nothing, Rowen. Come on, guys. Let's go find Beryl before the others do!" Sage ran ahead of the others, tempting them to follow.
"Yeah!" Amanda ran after him, and was closely followed by the other Ronins. They ran until they suddenly reached what appeared to be a barrier. "Hey, what's this?"
Ryo reached out to touch it, but his hand was shocked with electricity. "Ouch!" He brought back his hand and cursed. "Hey, what gives! Walls aren't supposed to able to do that!"
Cye studied it for a moment. "Hey, Sage. Do you think that maybe you could absorb some of this electricity into your nodatchi?" He looked at Sage, who gave him a thoughtful glance.
"I suppose... or we could let Kento get zapped so much that the wall runs out of it." He smirked, but stopped when he caught Kento's glare. "Yeah, Cye. I guess that would work." He pulled his nodatchi back, and then thrust it into the wall. It glowed along with his armor, as wave after wave of electricity rushed into him. This continued for a few moments, and then Sage broke away from the wall just as the last of it fizzled into him. "There, t-that should do it."
"You okay, Sage?"
"Yeah, Rowen, I'm fine. Just a little juiced, that's all."
"So what are we waiting for? Now that it's lost it's defense, let's smash this wall to pieces!" Kento hit the barrier numerous times, until there was a hole large enough for them to fit through. "Well, that was fun."
They all climbed through the hole, and surveyed the seen before them. Amanda stared in awe. "Wow... For an evil fortress, this is actually pretty nice. Don't you think?" She started to walk farther in, but a flash of light startled her.
The light faded, and everyone looked up to see a blue figure descending from above. As their eyes went back to normal, they were able to see the being more clearly.
All color drained from Cye's face, he was as white as a ghost. "No... " He stepped forward in shock, staring at the person above him. "No, it can't be... Candice, don't let them take you!" He was on the verge of tears.
Candice had a look of pure evil on her face. There was no recognition in her eyes at all. It was as if she had simply forgotten they all existed, that these were her friends. "I don't know whom your addressing, boy, but this day will be your last!" Her voice was filled with venom, and when she laughed, the pure evil sound to it made them all cringe. "My orders come directly from Queen Beryl herself, and if you think you can defy her than your deathly mistaken!" In a flash of light, her yari formed in her right hand. She spun it in front of her, then brought it back. "Tsunami of Destruction!" A huge wall of water rose up behind her, and she threw her yari toward them. It landed just in front of Cye, and began to glow. The wave seemed to follow the glow, as it rushed toward him. Her evil had affected the water so that it was now purple and black instead of blue.
Cye stood his ground as the wave hit him, and there was a huge spray of water that covered everything within one hundred yards of them. When the waved had subsided, Cye was still standing there. The attack had done nothing, except that he had gotten a little wet. He stood there with a gallant look in his eyes, continuing to stare up at Candice. "Please, don't give in to them, Candice. You're not evil!" She swooped down for a moment to grab her yari, and her speed should have been too fast for anyone to catch her, but just as she was returning to the sky, Cye grabbed her ankle and yanked hard. She screamed in pain, and got up to face him.
"Fine then, I'll play your way and fight on the ground, but I assure you, you cannot win!" She stood glaring at him with hatred.
This battle was tearing Cye apart, but he had to fight her. Maybe if she's unconscious, Tred can do for her what he did for Nathan. He thought of the man who had once wanted to kill them all, and now was fighting along side them, just as determined, just as good. Please, Candice, you've got to come back to us. He looked back at Amanda. She was taking this as hard as he was. 'Candice is Amanda's favorite cousin, so I'm going to fight for both of us.' He looked back at Candice and smiled. "If it's a fight you want, then I'll give it to you. But, you will leave them out of it. Okay?"
"Fine by me." Candice jumped into the air, and aimed a kick at Cye's head. He ducked, grabbed her feet, and swung her into a nearby wall. She teleported behind him, and smashed her fist into his back. "Ha, you'll have to do better than that fish boy!"
"You should talk..." He turned and stuck his yari into the spot where Candice had been, but she had leaped out of the way, kicking him from behind and driving him into the ground. He rolled over, and she kept him down by clamping his neck with her yari. She used it to fling him into the air, and when he came back down he speared his yari at her, but she blocked it with her own. They were locked in that stance for a moment, but Candice pushed his yari away and jumped back. She put her fists together and concentrated. Cye was shocked. "What's this, a second attack?"
Darkened ice grew from her hands, larger and larger until it dwarfed her entirely. She then prepared to release it. "Black Ice Bomb!" She hurled the ball of ice at Cye. He gathered power, leaned back, and swung the yari with all his might. When the ice collided with it, it was sent flying back toward Candice's scowling face. "No!" Candice screamed as it struck her, and she was sent flying backwards into a statue. It cracked, and dust was sent flying everywhere. When it finally cleared away, Candice was lying on the ground, not moving at all.
"No, Candice..." Cye started to run to her, but suddenly stopped. Three red dust creatures rose from her body, and burst apart. She seemed more relaxed when this occurred, and Cye could tell that they had possessed her. He went to her side, and lifted her off the ground. He walked back to the others, and set her down reluctantly.
Amanda knelt by her. "Candice. Hey, buddy, can you hear me?" She shook her lightly, but got no response.
Cye stiffened and looked at Amanda. "You don't think I..." He was interrupted by a small moan. He looked down at Candice as her eyes slowly opened.
"W... where am I?" She looked up at Cye, who was now hugging her out of joy for her being alive. "Cye, what happened?"
"Shhh, it's okay. Just rest now, all right?"
"Okay..." She fell asleep in his arms, and they all took a much needed break from their invasion of Queen Beryls castle.
* * * * *
Queen Beryl made her hands into fists, and pounded them on the armrests of her throne. She glared into her crystal ball, and scowled at what she saw. The Ronin Warriors and two of the new enemies were resting unharmed, and Candice had turned against her. "Why do I even bother!? Things never go my way!"
"Be patient. I have sent Anubis, my strongest warlord, to capture the other three. Not only that, but we now have the Sailor Scouts. It looks like you need some new lackeys, Beryl!" Talpa grinned.
Beryl waved him off. "Oh, shut up! Anubis hasn't captured them yet, and how are you so sure he will succeed?"
"I'm Talpa. I know everything."
"Jeesh." Beryl turned away, and again stared into her crystal. "You will pay dearly, Ronin Warriors."
* * * * *
"Ericaaaa! My feet hurt!"
"Shut up, Tracy."
"My feet hurt too, Erica."
"I stopped talking to you a while ago."
Danielle looked a little hurt. "Fine then! Tracy, Ericas mean."
"I know."
"What are you going to do about it?"
Tracy grinned. "Were going to... go on strike!"
"What! You cant do that! It's against the rules!"
"What rules, Erica?" Tracy spotted a little hill that looked like a good spot to strike. "Come on, Danielle. Lets go over there."
As they started to walk away, Erica yelled after them. "You guys are gonna pay for this! You are supposed to listen to me, I'm the leader!"
Tracy continued to walk towards the hill. "Aww, shove it."
Danielle plopped herself down on the hill. "Are you sure we should make her mad? Remember what happened to her brother when he used to make her mad? She strapped him to the garage with duct tape and used him for target practice. He had puck shaped bruises all over him!"
"Just because she has the powers of the leader of the Ronin Warriors, she thinks she can boss us around." Tracy looked back to where their friend was standing. Erica was trying to look like she really didn't want to join them.
Danielle thought about that one for a second. "Hey! Then why aren't I the leader?"
"Because, pathetic excuses for warriors like yourselves would never be able to lead others!" A man clad in bluish-gray armor with a cloth overcoat of black and yellow, appeared before them. "Prepare to die!"
Tracy just looked at him and yawned. "Could you just, like, go over there and die for us? Because I really don't feel like beating another one of you tin soldiers again."
"You shall pay for that insult, wench! Quake With Fear!" He flung his weapon far into the ground, and as it went deeper and deeper, it split into hundreds of other chains. These chains shot up out of the ground and surrounded the two warriors. They latched on to everything there was to latch on to, and pretty soon, Tracy and Danielle were caught in them and unable to move. He laughed at the struggling pair. "See what you get for underestimating the awesome power of the Warlord of Cruelty! You shall die at the hands of Anubis!"
"Not today, doggie!" Erica ran up to Anubis, swiping her gunblade in front of her. "Fireblast Explosion!"
Anubis jumped out of the way of the fire, but he wasn't the intended target. It struck the chains that had ensnared Tracy and Danielle. They broke easily. All three of the girls faced Anubis, looking quite enraged.
"So Anubis, what were you saying about killing us? Looks like you were boasting a little too soon." Danielle's lightsaber hummed to life. She stared at him, and suddenly stopped. She leaned toward Tracy. "Hey, for an evil dude, this guy is sorta hot..." Tracy thwapped her on the head, and she was brought back to reality. "You can't just throw a few chains and expect that to defeat me!" She ran at Anubis, and jumped high into the air just as she neared him. His intended counterpunch missed as she kicked him in the head. She slashed his neck with her lightsaber, and his helmet came flying off. Anubis grabbed it and used it to knock her away.
Tred and Nathan, who had been struggling for quite awhile to catch up to the three girls, now arrived on the scene. Nathan saw Anubis standing against them, looking a bit mangled. Danielle was about twenty feet beyond him, sprawled on the ground. Anubis' helmet had connected with her jaw, and she was in great pain. "Anubis! How dare you do this to them! I'll fight for my friends!" He ran towards Anubis.
"Please, do spare me the lecture, traitor. I shall defeat you just as easily as her!" Nathan hurled huge amounts of black energy at Anubis. He sent all the chains from his earlier attack at the energy, and dissipated it. He then, amidst the collision, sent his kusara-gama at Nathan.
Nathan smiled as he gathered more energy, but before he could release it, a spiky chain made its way through the chaos, toward him. "No!" He released his energy, but it was to late. The spiked end struck his chest and buried itself deep within him. He screamed in pain as Anubis' power rushed into him, knocking him unconscious. "Someone, please...help me..."
Tred rushed over to Nathan's unconscious form, and observed that he was bleeding profusely from the chest. "I see, I shouldn't have brought him here." A single tear streamed down his left cheek. "Now they're both gone."
Anubis was so busy boastfully laughing, that he didn't notice Tracy sneak up behind him. "Angel Light Strike!" Lightning coursed through every inch of Anubis, as he yelped in painful surprise. Tracy smiled and swung her nodatchi at him, hitting his ankle as he jumped out of the way.
"Damn you!" Anubis clutched his foot in agony, and looked up after a moment of gathering strength. He was greeted with a burst of flames. His hands moved to his face as it was scorched. He leapt into a nearby tree, cursing at them. "My j-job here is done... but we will meet again!" With that, he quickly teleported away.
Erica looked around to make sure Anubis was really gone. She saw Tred kneeling by Nathan. She walked up to him, trying not to grimace as she saw Nathan's wounds. "Will you be alright, Tred?"
Tred didn't say anything. He stood up and stepped away from Nathan. Danielle noticed that Nathan's body was shimmering. "What's happening to him?"
Tred's frown grew even more deep. "He is going to where he belongs, with all the other deceased Guardians."
As they watched, Nathan's body slowly disappeared. Erica looked at the ground and then back at Tred. "Is that why you were so insistent about helping him?" When Tred didnt answer, Erica decided to take charge of the situation. "Well, I know he was good and all, but we do have more important things to think about, like those evil people trying to take over our world. If you want to stay here, it's ok with us, Tred."
"No, I'm coming. You three need all the help you can get. Besides, I don't want to see anymore people die today." Tred and Erica started to walk away. Tracy and Danielle quickly followed.
"Ya know what, Danielle?"
"What, Tracy?"
"I think Tred's gonna be ok."
"Why?"
"Because he's back to insulting us! Hopefully kicking around some bad guy butt will cheer him up a little more."
