Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger! ❯ The Descending Shadow ( Chapter 57 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger!
By SSJ Heero (http://animenext.knorf.net)
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- OPENING SONG: That song that always plays at the beginning of Lord of the Rings -

---- Recap ----

[Chibi characters of the six appear in the foreground as scenes from the last episode play
in the background. Though, you can't see 'cause this is text. Haha!]

SSJ: Last time! Galadriel and company met the Fellowship, and Cindy explained the situation.

Kensou: I reaches Davis and SSJ, and takes down a Ringwraith on his own.

Amiko: Another Ringwraith is taken out by Voldemort and company, so we continue on.

TM: We accidentally fall off a waterfall then, thanks to me. It kicked ass!

(Everyone shivered at TM's enthusiasm.)

Davis: So, the War of the Ring breaks out and we run to Mount Doom.

Cindy: However, we were then seperated AGAIN thanks to Sauron. So, on with the show!

---- Chapter 57: The Descending Shadow ----

Tough times were falling upon the Crew. They had all been separated, indeed, and were
isolated from each other. SSJ faced Sauron, TM stood at the foot of Mount Doom, Davis was
fighting in the War of the Spatula, Cindy stood within the midst of orcs and the
Witchking... And Amiko? Amiko and Kensou stood within the maze of webs and bodies, Shelob's
Lair. Amiko knew it. But Kensou didn't.

"Let's go," said Amiko, leading Kensou for a change. Kensou paused within the dank, dark,
and depressing place, watching Amiko step forward. She carefully stepped over a solid
package of web, which Kensou saw by a frozen face to be a body. He felt dread creep upon
him as he followed Amiko, who was searching for the stairway out of Cirith Ungol.

She made her way past the gray threads, cutting them away with an arrow she pulled out of
her quiver. She stepped forward, searching, sifting, seeking the exit. Kensou followed. The
two continued on, careful of every sound, every subtle creak, every little detail.

And they heard it. The dreadful footsteps suddenly approaching. They stopped in their
tracks, searching for the source of the sound. It came from up ahead, where the webs had
disappeared and where the winding maze simplified into a few paths. They waited.

Out from the corner came an increasingly common sight, a Ringwraith appeared. They swore as
the Ringwraith readied his sword, gripping the hilt tightly with both hands. It stepped
forward, towards the two with determination to do what the others failed to do.

Amiko just gritted her teeth. She raised her right hand and her bow materialized in her
hand. She docked an arrow. "You can handle this?" Kensou asked as she closed an eye and
aimed.

Amiko was silent. She thought of her possibilities, what she could do, what the Nazgul
could do... She then replied, "Yeah." She let the arrow fly.

It sped through the air straight at the black cloak. The Nazgul dodged, stepping to the
side and ducking as the arrow flew just past it. It then broke into full dash at Amiko,
raising its sword and thrusting the blade forward at Amiko.

Amiko pulled out her ribbon and quickly whipped it straight at the Nazgul. Before the thing
could do anything, its hands were wrapped together by the ribbon, its blade dropping to the
ground. Amiko whipped the ribbon again and tossed the Nazgul back through the hallway it
came.

It skidded across the stone, coming to a rest right at a wall with an opening from at the
ceiling. The Nazgul stood, making Amiko wish she still had her magic makeup compact then.
'It'll be fine,' she assured herself as she docked another arrow. She let that one fly.

It struck the disoriented Nazgul. It pinned him to the wall. She dashed forward at the
surprised Nazgul, sending her bow and arrows away. Kensou followed to see what she would do
and was surprised to see her pull out her fan. "Okay!" yelled Amiko. "Hit a Bunch of Times
with Fans Technique!" Kensou sweatdropped at the name.

The Nazgul turned white then, despite its completely black clothing. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
Amiko continually smacked the poor being with her fan, slowly shoving it more and more into
the wall. A crack appeared in the stone wall. The hallway shook with each impact. The
cracks deepened and deepened as the Nazgul was smacked back. It was shoved further with
another hit. And finally, the wall shattered and the Ringwraith flew back, screaming in
pain.

Amiko was feeling particularly violent then, so she put away her fans and picked up a
rather large piece of the stone wall. The Nazgul never saw her fling it, and was paper flat
a moment later.

Screams and wails came from under the stone. A storm of wind charged out of the empty black
cloak; the Nazgul thus disappeared from the world. Amiko sighed with relief. She then
turned back to Kensou, smiling as he looked at her with awe. Suddenly, she fell to her
knees, and Kensou ran to her side. She was too tired from the past days to do much more.

Kensou smiled. "Nice work," he said as he put her on his back and let her arms wrap around
his neck. "We're going to Barad Dur, then, huh?" She nodded, and he felt that. He then
dashed through the hall, leaving the black cloak of the Ringwraith laying there...

***

Meanwhile, SSJ glared straight at Sauron. He began personally hating the stupid bastard.
His stupid helmet, his stupid armor, his stupid tower, his stupid ring, his stupid
existence- he began hating them all. His teeth grinded, his fist clenched, and his body
shook. Sauron smiled at the boy.

SSJ muttered, "You... You bastard." Sauron looked at the boy, who was gripping his sheathe
tighter than ever. "You don't know it. Power is not something that can be measured."

Sauron just smiled at the naive kid. "Oh?" Sauron's grip on his flail relaxed a bit. He
laughed. "What makes you think that?! Of course it can be measured. It's a measure of how
ruthlessly you kill and how easily you do it!"

"Tch!" SSJ spat back. "Power can never be truly measured, simply as one can make more. The
thing you need for power is the willpower! The weakest person with the will and hard work
can become as powerful as he wants!"

"So you want to believe," said Sauron. SSJ twitched. "Quit fooling yourself. Power,
physical appearance, attributes... They all are decided from birth. There is nothing you
can do to change them. Even the choices you make in life are determined by your
personality, created at birth. Can you say that 'hard work' and 'determination' can defeat
traits given by the Gods?"

SSJ clenched his fist and gripped his sheath tighter. "Yes. You can't become truly
strong... Only with the will to protect an important person can you push yourself past your
limits. And that is why your power is false." SSJ threw off his cloak and dropped into his
battoujutsu stance, tired of talking.

Sauron just sighed. "Pathetic," he muttered. "Then, after I obliterate your dreams and
destroy your hopes, I will bring you and the rest to Rantmon."

SSJ suddenly leapt forward, giving out a warcry as he came closer to Sauron. With one swift
motion, he drew his sword and aimed the slash at Sauron. Sauron blocked with the armor on
his arm. He then swung the flail straight at SSJ, who pushed off Sauron's shoulder and
landed behind the Dark Lord.

"RYU KAN SEN!" SSJ yelled as he twisted his body to strike Sauron. Sauron jumped aside and
barely missed the blade. SSJ pressed forward after Sauron, gripping the hilt of his blade.
"Kuzu Ryuu Sen!" SSJ yelled as he aimed the tip of the Hellfire sword at Sauron.

Sauron saw it, still in midair. He was taken by surprise as SSJ quickly sped at him. Nine
distinct clangs sounded through the area, and Sauron flew back as SSJ landed and skidded
along the stone. Sauron landed feet first and glared at SSJ. That didn't hurt him, but SSJ
still surprised him.

Sauron then saw SSJ's white aura burst forth. It filled the dark room with light as SSJ
struck a pose. Sauron was struck with confusion. SSJ then yelled another of his attacks,
"WIND SLASH!" He quickly swung his sword and a thin wave of white energy raced at Sauron.

"What the Hell?!" Sauron muttered as he leapt out of the way. He saw the energy wave cut
straight through the stone wall, which took him by surprise. That stone was extremely thick
and difficult to cut! He then just barely noticed SSJ in the air with another attack in
store.

This time, though, SSJ had a storm around his sword. Sauron muttered to himself as he saw
the power again, 'This again?!'

SSJ yelled, "Zero-Powered Ryuu Tsui Sen!" He slashed down upon Sauron. Sauron wouldn't
dodge anymore; he just swung his flail and let it fly straight at SSJ. SSJ couldn't block.
He was still gripping the hilt of his weapon as the flail crashed straight into his gut.

He suddenly was filled with immense pain. More so than when the mana clone of Rantmon
knocked him out. He coughed out blood upon the stone floor as the flail tore through his
shirt. There was the sound of cracking metal, and as SSJ flew away from the slowing flail,
his chain mail armor shattered at the expense of his skin. Several cuts appeared on his
torso from the blow. He fell to the ground on his back and rolled and skidded and crashed
into a stone wall. More blood came from his mouth.

Sauron laughed at the mortal kid, "Was that all? One hit and you're down and out? I had
more expectations of a boy who wanted to take on Rantmon."

SSJ swore as a river of blood flowed from his mouth. Even if the flail did no damage on his
outside, the impact no doubt caused some internal damage. He didn't like the prospects of
being hit again.

SSJ looked down on his broken and cracked armor. He swore again, and with great difficulty
pulled it apart and threw it away. His blue shirt, too, was torn apart and thrown away, and
he made a note to apologize to Momo. "Damn it," he said again. "How can I beat him?"

"You can't," Sauron cut in. SSJ clenched his teeth again. "I just forget I'm psychic
sometimes. You see, it takes a bit of concentration to pry into your heart. But, I can
still read your mind in this battle. You can't win, as I'll see all your moves."

SSJ just swore and dashed forward. 'This ought to confuse him!' he muttered as he sheathed
his sword and put his hands together. He did a particular motion and thought, 'Bunshin no
Jutsu!' Suddenly, two other SSJ bodies were next to him.

The three ran at Sauron, each pulling back his fist and let a punch straight at Sauron.
Sauron countered, simply giving the left body a good kick to the chin. SSJ flew back as the
two other images punched through Sauron- they were fake clones, after all. SSJ swore as he
adjusted himself in midair to land on his feet.

SSJ glared at Sauron and thought, 'Shit... Everything I do requires thought... He's at too
much of an advantage.' Sauron nodded and chuckled at that. SSJ fumed. He looked at Sauron
and his power. SSJ came to one conclusion, 'I guess... I have to use it... The succession
technique.'

***

Orcs crashed into zergs and humans as the War of the Spatula continued on. Clashing of
metal and exoskeletons filled the air as zerglings broke their way through the layers of
the orcish army. More and more orcs lay dead as the many zergs and humans hacked and
slashed into the army.

Davis looked at the onslaught, kicking ass and taking names as he knocked many orcs away
with his meteors and flames. But that wasn't enough, as a great number of orcs were needed
to be knocked out for the army to be defeated. Davis let himself slip to the back of the
human army and pulled a few reluctant fighters away. Before the warriors could protest,
Davis just commanded, "Just look after me for a few minutes. I need to do something big."

So they circled around him, armed and ready to fight off any approaching orc. Davis put one
knee to the ground and put his hands together. He muttered an incantation quietly amidst
the noise of the war. Dirt and sand from around the area slowly crept to Davis and up into
the sky. The warriors saw the ball forming. He wasn't making a meteor, but he was making it
large enough to take out tens of thousands of orcs at once!

But it proved tough defending Davis with the huge signal forming overhead. The smarter orcs
broke from the army and dashed at the tiny force protecting Davis. The warriors gulped and
tensed, watching a small band of orcs race straight at them. They just yelled a warcry and
ran into the orcs, slashing their swords and taking off as many heads as they could.

The humans slowly fell, killing only a few of the approaching orc band. Davis looked up
from his incantation and thought, 'Damn it... Can't trust anyone nowadays...' But he
couldn't stop the build-up of the meteor. Stopping it would give the enemies their victory.
More would come at him if he tried. He needed to finish. The first orcs dashed at him,
ready to strike the unprepared Tamer.

Suddenly, acid flew straight at the first orcs, who fell to the ground in immense pain.
Davis was taken aback to see scores of liquid acid trails fly through the air and hit the
orcish band. Davis heard shuffling as several zerg hydralisks came past. He turned to see
behind him and saw an entire zerg colony, complete with hatchery in place. He grinned;
those zergs were really something.

Orcs that came were subsequently taken out by the acid that the hydralisks ejected. A great
many fell and writhed in pain. A great few broke through and killed a hydralisk. But none
of the Enemy forces could match up against the hydralisks. Until another shriek filled the
air.

"Oh no," Davis muttered as he looked up at the sky. Flapping wings. Another winged steed of
a Nazgul. He swore. The meteor still wasn't ready. The steed swooped down upon the slow
hydralisks. The beast crashed straight into the zergs, throwing them away and crushing them
in its talons. Davis' protection failed and Davis was left alone as the Ringwraith sped
straight at him. Nowhere to go, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Davis felt doomed. The
steed raised its talons to rip through Davis.

Suddenly, it crashed into something. It stopped in midair and screamed in pain as the
Ringwraith was launched forward due to inertia. Davis looked to see a large, yellow,
electrical wall separating him from his death. He heard someone from behind suddenly say,
"Your reputation really doesn't suit you." A figure stepped up beside him.

Davis looked up at the figure to his right, and he saw with surprise the shining shoulder
guard of the Hokuten. "Clan Hokuten?!" he blurted with surprise, hands still locked
together.

"We're here to help," said a gruff voice. Behind him was Paul Mercuria, raising his large
axe and stepped up beside the first figure, Lee Starmon. "You had to show him your wares,
huh, Lee?"

"Couldn't help it," Lee said back with a smile. Paul just ran forward rather clumsily
straight at the winged steed. Suddenly, the yellow wall broke and several small, floating
disks hovered back and surrounded Lee. Davis then saw Paul raise his axe high and with one
foul swoop cut the giant steed straight in half. If the blade didn't cut it, the impact
did! Davis could only look on in surprise as blood littered the area.

Even the Ringwraith who fell to the ground looked at his steed and was taken by surprise.
He then heard more footsteps. He turned and saw Orion, standing tall and unarmed. The
Ringwraith pulled out his sword and stepped back. He threatened the nonchalant Orion,
"Beware, foolish mortal. No man can kill me, and my kind has instilled nightmares upon the
land!"

The Ringwraith then thrusted his blade forward. It tore straight through the left side of
Orion's chest, tearing through where the Nazgul believed was the guy's heart. He suddenly
was taken aback when Orion grabbed his arm. He looked up at Orion's face, still nonchalant
and without feeling. "I can't kill you?" Orion repeated. "You still have no chance in Hell
of killing me."

"What the Hell are you?!" the Ringwraith demanded. He struggled to move, but Orion held him
in place.

"I am Orion of the North. I come from the Lunarian continent, and the high levels of mana
in that region warped my birth and changed several aspects of my body. One of them is that
my heart is on my right side." The Ringwraith then turned his head, and realized why one of
Orion's armor only covered his right side. "I'd tell you more about my being, but your time
is up."

The Ringwraith then heard someone behind him. "Depart," said a feminine voice behind him.
He didn't realize it was Risika, holding up a kodachi. He screamed for a chance to live,
just seconds before the blade pierced through his head. He screamed and shrieked and with a
storm, his essence disappeared from the world forever. Seven down, two to go!

Davis looked up at the meteor. It was complete! He stepped up and put his hands on the
bottom of the massive ball of destruction. The orcish army froze in fear at the sight of
that. Davis felt no compassion when he hurled it at the heart of the orcs. Thousands upon
thousands were instantly crushed, and the giant impact tore the ball apart, and its shards
no doubt killed more.

The army of men and zergs stopped their advance as the ball tore its way through the army.
Sand and dust were kicked up, clouding the area in a thick fog. When it cleared, what was
left of the orcs fled back to Mordor, no doubt to be taken out by Gandalf and many of the
Fellowship.

Davis turned back to the Hokuten, seeing them all gather together. "You guys sure come at
good moments." Anya waved and smiled from the center of the group. Davis just sighed. He
then said, "I'm going to relocate my friends. I don't really have time to talk to you guys,
sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem," said Anya with a smile. "We were just passing through, anyway, and
I'm sure we'll meet again."

Davis looked at her and asked, "What makes you think that?"

"We're heading to the same place. We're both heading to stop Rantmon." Davis froze at that.
So, these powerful guys, too, were heading for Rantmon?! Davis just looked back at the army
of men, resting from the intense battle.

He just said to the Hokuten, "That so... Well, I'm off."

"Do take care. Times are dark and we need your help."

Davis stopped again. He didn't know why powerful ones like them needed him. He turned back
to them. "Why do you say that?"

Anya suddenly was grim and serious. She then explained, "At this very moment, Rantmon is
fighting the God of Light. If he takes the God of Light, he takes all six Gods." Davis was
taken completely by surprise. No, not already! This was too soon! Anya then said, "Go now.
Your comrades need to know and head to face him!" Davis nodded and dashed off. He caught
Gandalf and company. The Fellowship on horseback raced towards Barad Dur.

Risika turned to Anya. "Is it right to hope for them? They are still lost in the world."

Anya turned to Risika. "We can only hope on them. Syria has put her hopes in them, the only
ones outside the system. Only these outsiders can destroy the system that traps us in it."

***

TM glared at the Ringwraith that descended from the air to him. The black shadow in the air
descended upon him, looking at it from the rocky, uneven ground. He swore, "Damn it!" and
tensed his body. He screamed and forced out his aura. The red flames of energy came from
him, circling around him and set the area ablaze in the light.

"Let's make this quick," TM muttered. He dropped into his battoujutsu stance. The winged
steed came to the ground then. TM immediately shoved off, speeding at the beast. He drew
his sword just a little, revealing a small storm of wind within the sheathe. He yelled his
attack, "Zero-Powered Crimson Blade!"

With one quick motion, he was on the other side of the winged monster, sliding upon the
dirt and forcing stones out from his path. He turned and faced the beast, and a fury of red
X's tore through the beast. It coughed blood and fell there, quite dead and gory and an
unpretty sight.

TM gripped his sword tightly, watching the unaffected Ringwraith, cloaked in black and
lacking emotion for the fallen beast. "Is that all?" asked the Nazgul as he raised his
sword. The Nazgul gripped the hilt of his blade, and with that he dashed straight at TM.

TM blocked the slash that the Nazgul threw, and then he countered with a knuckle sandwich
to the thing's head. It skidded back, and forced itself to a stop. It turned to TM and
sprinted again at TM. TM leapt this way, dodged another way, ducked and parried the blows
from the Nazgul. He suddenly became confused. How was TM dodging all of his attacks?! How
can he be that skilled?

He then saw TM skid back and look up at him. He saw why. TM's red Sharingan eyes. The
Ringwraith swore, "Damn it, so it was true... He does have the Sharingan..." He sighed;
this would complicate matters.

TM dashed at the Ringwraith, preoccupied with his thoughts. TM had his sword sheathed and
his two hands together, index and middle fingers crossing. The seal of the Kage Bunshin!
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled TM. Smoke filled the area, and the Nazgul was taken aback.
He looked up at the sky, and there were many, many TM's crashing down upon him. The Nazgul
crossed its arms, trying to block.

Red auras filled the area. Each Kage Bunshin was glowing red, holding its sword high. They
all yelled in unison as the red aura flowed to their blades, "ZERO SLASH!" They all swung
their swords straight at the Nazgul, surprised at their attack. Indeed, when many, many
thin waves of red energy were headed for you, that tended to be a bad thing.

He was hit. The kage bunshin split into smoke and TM landed upon the ground, smiling at his
handiwork. He saw the Nazgul torn and hit with the simultaneous attacks. The Nazgul
screamed. TM smirked.

But when the Nazgul still stood, taking all those attacks, TM froze. He then slapped his
forehead. "Damn it," he muttered, "No man can kill them?!" He looked around. There was no
water in sight. He sighed, and instead thought of his deadliest bishoujo. He muttered,
"Then... Let's go, Kaoru."

Kaoru then appeared in a flash of red light, glaring at TM for picking her as the
deadliest. TM just sweatdropped and clapped his hands together. "I don't mean anything by
that, I promise! Let's go beat this guy, okay?"

Kaoru glared at TM. "I'll need something that can kill him, then," she said. She sort of
hinted at TM's sword, but TM instead pulled out a giant Biggoron Sword from out of nowhere.
Kaoru's mouth dropped to the ground.

"Will this do?"

"YES!" Kaoru yelled back as she took grip of the surprisingly light sword. It was a cheap
knock-off, but it was enough! She slammed the blade down upon the reeling Nazgul, who never
saw what hit him. He was torn straight in half, and disappeared from the world with a
scream. A storm tore out of the cloak and he, too, was gone from the world.

TM grinned. "Kaoru, return." Kaoru then disappeared in a flash of red light, and TM turned
back towards Barad Dur. "That Sauron... I bet he's behind this." He shut his eyes and his
red aura faded. He opened them again and he had his aqua eyes again. He sprinted to Barad
Dur.

***

Cindy looked straight into the eyes of the malevolent steed of the Witchking. Indeed, being
surrounded by a small army of orcs and the Witchking would be a challenge. Mokona knew it,
sitting upon Cindy's shoulder. So, for once, he leapt off of Cindy's shoulders and grew to
about her size. "PuuuUUUUuuu Puu!" Mokona yelled at Cindy. ("Don't worry!") Cindy nodded.

Cindy looked at the army of orcs. She pulled out her fan. "Come out, guys," she said quite
seriously. With red light an general confusion, all her bishounen appeared. Sano, Saitou,
Aoshi, Trunks, Miroku, Shippou, Illpalatzo, Kaworu, Naota, Tokiya, and Vash appeared, armed
to the teeth and ready to fight. The orcs shitted in their pants.

Mokona grew further, becoming about as tall as a skyscraper and punting orcs away. Sano
gave poor orcs a thorough beating, as Saitou impaled more and Aoshi sliced more to pieces.
Another more were lost in Miroku's black hole. Shippou changed into a metal X-box and
chain, which Illpalatzo took up and started smashing more orcs to pulps. Naota and his
robot kicked more ass as Tokiya stood in place and acted cool, impaling orcs with icicles.
All this while Vash and Cindy shot bullets at the Witchking, dodging the blows from the
steed.

The army of orcs fell soon enough, and all the bishounen returned to Cindy, letting her
face the Witchking at full strength. The Witchking looked around at the army of Minas
Morgul. Everyone was a casualty. He muttered, "So, they are as powerful as the rumors
say..." He turned to Cindy, armed with a gun, a fan, and currently was chibi. He stuttered,
looking at the tiny figure, "O... Oro?!"

"CHIBI STORM!" Cindy yelled as she suddenly sprinted at the speed of light straight at the
Witchking. She slammed into the steed of the Ringwraith, launching the Witchking away to
look up at her assault. She smacked and crashed and slashed with the fan as she went. She
gave no mercy to the poor creature, screaming in pain. In her final moves, she appeared
over the beast and knocked it back to the Earth. Cindy returned to normal size in a puff of
smoke, and she then opened her fans.

"FAN A BUNCH OF TIMES WITH FANS TECHNIQUE!" As the beast fell, the sudden current shoved it
at great speed into the stone floor. It bellowed in pain as it shattered the ground. The
Witchking look up at Cindy; she had put her fan away and just pulled back her arm. She
yelled as she came close to the weakened beast, "NEWTON SLAM!" She let her punch straight
at the thing's belly, and the impact resonated throughout the area. The beast coughed out
blood, among other things, as it finally took the final blow and died like a pussy.

Its eyes rolled to the back of its head, and its neck became limp. Its head slammed into
the ground as Cindy stood atop it. The Witchking looked up at her. "Impressive," he said.

Cindy was tired then. After all that effort to defeat the beast, she still had the
Witchking to handle. She could hardly stand as she stepped to the ground from the beast.
She couldn't help herself then. She instinctively reached for the Spatula around her neck.
The Witchking finally noticed it. 'The Spatula!' he thought. 'That's where Lord Sauron's
spatula has been!'

He suddenly was at Cindy, Spatula in hand. Cindy grabbed the Witchking's hands, trying to
pry it off of the Spatula... Her Spatula... She suddenly felt heavier. She was tired, but
she couldn't be that tired... She struggled to pry the Witchking off of her Spatula... She
could stop him from severing the chain around her neck and pulling the Spatula away from
her.

She was shoved back by the Witchking, gasping for air like an addict. She felt like an
important part of her had disappeared. The Witchking looked down on her, struggling to get
to her feet and reach for the Spatula. "Oh, shut up," he said. "You've only had it for a
day, and you're acting like you've practically BONDED with it."

Cindy suddenly was struck with that realization. She really didn't feel bad at all. In
fact, she felt fine. She stood up, unfatigued as she looked up at the Witchking. Still, she
saw him raise the Spatula and say, "The Second Darkness has come! ...Okay, it WILL come
when I bring this to Sauron!" And the Witchking dashed away.

"HEY!" Cindy yelled as she dashed after the Witchking.

***

SSJ was knocked back by Sauron, straight into the wall, coughing out blood and spit. Even
his attempts at the succession technique failed. There he was, without an armor or even a
shirt to block the cold metal blows from Sauron's fists. He was weak. He couldn't beat
Sauron. He coughed and struggled.

He then noticed Momo laying there on the ground, unconscious within the room. He sighed,
'Better off she didn't see me like this...' He looked back at Sauron. SSJ panted,
struggling to move. His legs were sore from struggling to dodge Sauron's flail. They hardly
registered his desires to move. They buckled and shook as he pushed off the stone wall and
stood on his own feet.

Sauron flung his flail straight at SSJ. SSJ did what he could. His aura came forth and
barely slowed down the flail. SSJ yelled, "Hakkeshou Kaiten!" He spun in a circle there,
and the flail deflected back at Sauron.

Sauron smiled, "Oh, interesting techniques." SSJ figured he had only one more then. He had
only enough strength for one more attempt at assaulting Sauron. He saw his range between
Sauron. He imagined the symbol in the ground.

SSJ spread his feet apart, and with that outstretched his arms in opposite directions. He
was still panting as he muttered, "Jyuukenpo... Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!" ("(Gentle Fist Style
- 64 Palms of the Divination!") He then put all his strength to dash forward.

He reached Sauron in no time, and Sauron was a bit surprised. "Hakke, Nishou! Yonshou!
Hasshou! Juurokushou! Sanjuunishou! Rokujuuyonshou!" ("Divination, Two hands! Four hands!
Eight hands! Sixteen hands! Thirty-two hands! Sixty-four hands!") Sauron skidded back when
SSJ dealt the final sixty-four strikes. SSJ panted more, the strength sapped out of him.

Momo opened her eyes, hearing SSJ's weak gasps. She quickly lifted her head to see SSJ,
bloody and bruised and definitely not happy. She then noticed Sauron, standing up with
little injury. No wonder. He was wearing armor. "Fool," she heard Sauron say. "That
technique might have been useful if you actually knew where my opening points are, and if I
wasn't wearing armor." SSJ ground his teeth together.

SSJ knew he was at his limit. He hardly had hurt Sauron at all, and yet... He couldn't let
it end this way. He got down into his battoujutsu stance, this time with his left foot in
front. He managed to pant, "Hiten... Mitsurugi... Ryuu..." Suddenly, he disappeared.

He was just before Sauron, drawing his blade as quickly as possible. He performed
battoujutsu upon Sauron, who easily blocked with the grip of his flail. Sauron was then
about to swing the flail around, but he suddenly lost balance. SSJ began to spin in a
circle again, the winds circling a point just between them. "AMA KAKERU RYUU NO HIRAMEKI!"
SSJ screamed as he slashed at Sauron.

WHAM!

SSJ flew back, not Sauron. Sauron had slammed his palm straight into SSJ's cheek. The
succession technique failed. Momo gasped as SSJ tumbled back and scraped along the stone
floor. She covered her open mouth as she thought, 'SSJ!' He stopped just behind her, and
she immediately ran at him.

She suddenly was frozen. Her body refused to move. She knew not what it was, but suddenly,
her arm moved on its own. She reached for SSJ's sword. 'No!' she screamed in her thoughts,
for she couldn't will herself to speak. 'What's happening?!' She struggled to make her hand
stop.

"Nothing's happening, girl," Sauron spoke. "Except for my will. The boy was a dismal
failure. This is what Rantmon has to fight against? He shouldn't have gone through the
trouble to capture the Gods..." Momo struggled to move. She used all her strength to turn
her head and glare at Sauron.

Sauron looked at the girl. "Oh, your will is pretty strong," he muttered. "You won't be
able to do anything, though. The boy couldn't save himself, the one who should be
important."

They then heard SSJ mutter, "I..." They turned to him. "I... can't beat him...? Not even
when I want to protect someone important to me...?" He glanced at Momo for a bit, but
quickly turned away to Sauron. His eyes no longer had hate, but fatigue. They were half
open as he leaned on the wall. "Hard work... Wasn't useful...?" His moves lost all their
energy. He was like a doll.

Sauron smiled. The boy learned. Sauron raised his flail and looked at Momo. He stepped to
her, still frozen in place. He said, "Rantmon only commanded us to bring the Five there.
You are just dead weight." Momo's breath faltered. She looked up at Sauron, raising his
flail high.

Suddenly, Sauron stopped, suddenly surprised. He lowered his arm, and Momo was slightly
relieved. But Sauron looked down on her with a smile. "Why are you relieved? You should be
in complete panic now. Rantmon just captured the sixth and final God."

---- To Be Continued ----

- ENDING SONG: ENRAI - Do As Infinity [1] -

sukima nai nyuudougumo no shita
ano hi wa haha to futari
higasa o sashite te o hikare
aruiteta natsu no michi

semishigure ni kiesou na koe de
nando mo itta
"minna hitori de ikite yuku mono
furikaeranai"

---- Preview ----

[The Naruto Main Theme plays in background. The six appear as chibi style, and random
scenes from the next episode play, though you can't see because this is text. Haha!]

SSJ: NO WAY! This... THIS CAN'T BE!

Amiko: Has Rantmon actually won? Were we too slow? Did we waste too much time on bishounen?!

Kensou: As we all head for Barad Dur to handle Sauron, Rantmon's plan comes to light.

TM: Rantmon, with his newfound power, challenges the world.

Davis: A great crisis befalls the world, which must unite if it wants to beat him.

Cindy: But... Will WE be able to unite?

All: Next! "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back"

----

Author's Note:

[1] I couldn't think of a song for LotR, so I chose another D-A-I song. Yep.