Life and Soul Reunited
by CypherCA

Finally. I get to the fight. Thank goodness for Easter break. Of course, I still have to clean up my room and do my home work and that stupid chem project and the stupid list is endless. Anyway, some notes: ~ means telepathy. Enjoy.

Chapter 12: The Battle Begins

“Man, is it just me, or are these guys stronger than last time?” Kento asked nobody.

“It’s not you Hardrock. They’ve been given some sort of boost.” Dais replied.

“Hey Ryo,” Cye called out, “look over there.” He pointed by the lake, where a figure in armor was standing.

“I’ll go check it out.” Ryo said while running towards the figure. <I wonder where Rowen is.> “He finally reached the armored man. “Who are you?”

“I’m Talpa’s new Warlord of Psychosis.”

“Huh. You don’t look so tough!” Yelled Sage, who had joined Ryo. The others soon finished off the Dynasty soldiers and joined the two talking to the Warlord.

“Where is Strata? No matter. Destroying you will make taking over this world easier.”

“You think you alone can defeat us?” Sekhmet said.

“Yes. Even you Ancient” he motioned to Kayura, “are vulnerable. You see, I can destroy your mind. Shattered Reality!” All of the Ronins suddenly felt their perception of reality be torn to shreds. They screamed out their mental agony and fell to the ground. “Almost too eas-”

“Arrow Shock Wave!” The arrow barely missed the Warlord. He turned to face Strata, and was suddenly confused.

<Two Strata? No, wait. One’s black. How interesting.> “You shall also fall. Shattered Reality!”

“Ro, jump!” Both boys jumped before the psychic sure-kill hit them.

“I’ll take this guy. You check on the others.”

“Right.” Richard went to the fallen Ronins. <I wish I could help him, but I don’t even know how to fight with these...these....>

~Jittes.~

~Huh?~

~They’re jittes.~

~Polaris?~

~Yes?~

~You only a dream!~

~I’m as real as Anubis.~

~Great. So, can you help me fight?~ He saw his brother fly across the field.

~Yes.~

“Ready to die boy?” The Warlord dove at Richard, holding a sword posed to kill. Suddenly, Rich brought up a jitte to block the attack.

<What?>

~Told you I could help.~ Rich suddenly felt Polaris fill his mind with all the fighting skill she could. ~Is that better?~

~Thank you.~ Rich lunged at the momentarily stunned Warlord, aiming to puncture his stomach. The Warlord blocked and they continued to fight.

“Shattered Reality!” The sure-kill hit Rich like a ton of bricks. Then, most of the pain subsided.

~AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

~POLARIS! I’m sorry! Are you okay?~ He didn’t get a response. He turned hate filled eyes on the Warlord. “You. Are. Going. To. PAY!” Rich was overcome by an instinct, his armor. It guided his moves. He placed the hilts of his jittes together and started spinning them above his head. Soon, the connected weapons looked like a spinning starfield.

<That looks like Kayura’s old Starlight Sword Scream attack.> Rowen observed.

“Shattered-” The Warlord didn’t get a chance to finish his attack as Richard unleashed his own sure-kill.

“PLASMA STORM!” The starfield became a dome around the Warlord and each streak of light became a streak of plasma. The plasma streaks rained down upon the hapless Warlord, burning his armor. Some streaks even ate through the armor and burned the skin. He screamed in agony before teleporting back to the Dynasty. Richard stopped the attack and fell to his knees.

“Rich!” Rowen ran to his brother, not noticing that his fallen friends were stirring. “You okay?” He knelt down to his sibling.

“You could’ve told me that a sure-kill caused such a drain on a person.” Rich complained. “The first time is always the worst. Here,” he helped support his brother. “Let’s go to Mia’s. You can rest up there. Besides, I think we need to tell the others.”

“Right.” Rich leaned on his brother and let him lead the way.

“Hey guys.” Rowen called to the now sitting up Ronins. “We’ll meet you at Mia’s and explain everything there.” He ignored their protests and headed for Mia’s.

<I could really use a shower.> Rich thought.

“You can use ours when we get to Mia’s.” Rowen said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes you did. You said you could really use a shower.”

“I thought it. I didn’t say anything.”

“But then....how?”

“Hold on.” ~The big, black bug bled blue-black blood.~

Rowen looked at his sibling oddly. “Say what?”

“Not say. Telepathy.”

“The armors?”

“That would be my guess. Don’t you have a link with the others?”

“Yeah, but not as strong as the one you just demonstrated.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re related.”

“Guess so.”

“Hey, is that Mia’s house?” Rich nodded towards the mansion not to far ahead.

“Yep.”

“Wow.”

“Wait till you get inside.”

“Kayura, was that the tenth armor?” Sage asked.

“I would guess so.”

“That would mean that Ro has a sibling; and he never told us. Never told me.” Sage hung his head.

“Don’t take it personally Sage.” Cye said, trying to comfort him. “I’m sure he didn’t tell you or us for a good reason.”

“But-”

“Look Sage, put your personal feelings aside for a while.” Ryo said harshly. “We’re all felling hurt and maybe betrayed, but we have to find out more about this tenth armor and new Dynasty first.” Ryo finished his sentence as they emerged from the forest. Then, they heard a scream from Mia’s house and started running there as fast as they could, fearing the worst.

Okay. That ‘Big Black Bug’ rhyme I don’t own. It belongs to the M-A Theater Guild or whoever they got it from. Hope you liked the chapter.