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 Beginning of a Storm ( Chapter 68 )

[ 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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---- Recap ----

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

Amiko: Last time! On Ginga GIRI GIRI!

Kensou: We show up on Rantmon's island.

TM: We are met by none other than Black Amiko and Shadow.

Davis: So, Amiko and TM defeat them once more and we head inside.

Cindy: And finally, it's Rantmon's first serious battle! On with the show!

---- Chapter 68: The Battle with Rantmon - Part 1 : The Beginning of a Storm ----

The island in the sky slowly lurched forward, sand steadily falling from it like an
hourglass. Through the richly decorated halls of stone of the palace upon it, lit by
magical balls of light and furnished with expensive furniture, nothing could be found. No
one dawdled inside the halls, where Rantmon had lived as a king.

Everyone was at the room of Rantmon's throne, where the Rood Inverse was glowing brightly
upon the ground. Lee Starmon and Paul Mercuria stood there upon the edge of the Rood,
staring at Rantmon and vice versa.

Lee pulled his large coat close to him as Paul kept a firm grip on the shaft of his axe.
Rantmon's hooked blade rested upon the side of the throne. He snapped his fingers, and the
blade flew straight at him, threatening to impale him. Everyone was taken aback at the
dangerous show. Then, Rantmon caught the blade with two of his fingers. Everyone was
stunned. Rantmon threw the blade up and caught it by the hilt with his right hand.

"That's just for show," he said. "Are you sure you want to try?" Lee and Paul didn't
respond. Rantmon just sighed and said, "Y'know, since you are here, I might as well tell
you a story."

"There once was a boy who found a world." Rantmon suddenly dashed forward at an amazing
speed. He pulled his sword back and was about to slash through the two in one stroke, but
he suddenly crashed into something. There were yellow sparks and barbs of lightning.
Rantmon saw a wall of energy had formed between him and the two. On each corner of the wall
was a glowing plate.

"The world lay before him, incomplete and broken." He leapt back, just as the wall
disappeared and as Paul slashed at him. "That boy created the first soul, Siria Mauzel." He
blocked Paul's axe and sent the man flying away with a flick of his fingers. Paul skidded
back as Lee dashed forward. "That boy also created a world, where the people once loved and
revered him."

Lee leapt into the air and threw off his coat. The Crew finally saw what he had under the
coat as it floated away. Weapons of every type. Guns, blades, bombs, needles, whatever. He
was a walking arsenal of weapons. Rantmon still continued on, "But the paradise he created
was too inviting. The things without a soul were blocked from entering Terra and were
doomed to eventually fade from the world." Lee drew a knife from its scabbard and tossed it
straight at Rantmon.

Rantmon caught it in his teeth and spat it back at Lee. Lee's plates sped through the air
and created another wall around him. "A thing between life and death wandered into the
world and was gifted with life. This thing thought, 'How revolting life truly is!'" Rantmon
suddenly was behind Lee. Lee was taken aback to figure that Rantmon was just as fast as he
was strong.

"What the-?!" Lee exclaimed as Rantmon swung his blade. Too fast. It was too fast for Lee
to dodge.

Suddenly, Rantmon flew away, for Paul's axe had hit Rantmon straight in the back. Everyone
saw Paul there, standing on the ground, holding one end of the axe. It was connected to the
blade by a chain now, changed from its original form to a flail of sorts. Paul grinned and
said, "Got him!"

And he was surprised to see Rantmon split into smoke. Rantmon's voice was suddenly behind
him, "The humans that ruled Terra were by far the weakest it has ever come across." Blood
flew through the air. Paul had slashed Rantmon's cheek with the other end of his flail,
where a spike had sped out from. Paul dashed away, surprisingly quickly for someone of his
size.

Rantmon stood there, blood flowing from the wound on his cheek. "It figured it would give
them one last chance. It inhabited the Creator, the avatar of the boy, and only just now
felt pain from a human." Rantmon wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand,
and he licked the blood off his now stained glove. "My blood... I have never tasted it
before. Quite exquisite," said Rantmon.

"You should stop ranting!" said a voice above Rantmon. Rantmon looked up, and there was
Lee, up in the sky with weapons galore ready for use. Rantmon saw Lee launch shurikens,
kunais, needles, knives, bombs, grenades, and any other sort of small arms straight at
Rantmon.

Rantmon dodged the blades, twisted around the explosions, deflected the shurikens of
various sizes, and finally leapt up after Lee. "That thing was, of course, me!" yelled
Rantmon as he sped towards Lee at a dangerous velocity. "Even after feeling pain, I still
conclude that you all are weak!"

Lee drew guns of many shapes and sizes. He launched bullets large and small, explosive or
not, and even had a couple of gatling guns on hand to launch volleys at Rantmon. Rantmon
deflected them all with his aura alone. Lee was knocked out of the air just by Rantmon's
aura, landing with a thud beside Paul, weaponless and with not but a simple shirt.

They saw Rantmon's aura. Its color was just terrifying. Reds, blacks, browns, blues,
greens, and whites all were mixed in it. It was at one point an aura of life... But it was
tainted. Something else was added to it. Lee and Paul were surprised to realize faces
constantly formed and disappeared within his aura. "What the Hell?!" screamed Paul.

Rantmon stood there before the two, quite proud. "See what I mean when I say humans are
weak? Every one that I have killed now resides in my aura. I shall feed off of their souls
and gain even more strength! This is a tainted aura? No, it's recycling useless souls!"

Rantmon then saw Lee get to his feet, glaring straight at Rantmon. Rantmon saw the whites
of Lee's eyes. He was glaring at Rantmon with immense hatred. "I... I saw her... I saw my
mother... She... She was in your aura?!" No change could be observed in Rantmon with that
revelation. "You... You killed her?!"

Rantmon put down his sword and thought long and hard. "Your mother... Your mother... Let's
see, was she tall, blond haired, blue eyed, particularly beautiful, and had a refined sense
of taste?"

Lee shook. Lee's eyes widened with anger. He screamed, "You killed her! You... You! You
remember, huh! You remember your crime!"

Rantmon just smiled as he continued, "Nope. I don't remember anyone like that. I'm just
pulling your leg." Lee shook even more in anger. Rantmon added, "It's possible I killed
someone like that, but I have killed so many I simply forgot all of the victims."

Lee suddenly flew at Rantmon. "Lee!" Paul screamed. It was no use. Lee was full of more
hatred than ever as he raced towards Rantmon at an incredible speed.

Rantmon just muttered amidst the sea of weapons, "What can you do? You have no more
weapons."

"My body is my true weapon!" Lee said from behind Rantmon. Lee gave a kick to his neck, and
suddenly, he was before Rantmon to give a powerful uppercut. Lee was before Rantmon in the
air, and with a powerful kick, he sent Rantmon flying back towards the ground. Lee juggled
Rantmon in the air, punching, kicking, and doing whatever to hurt Rantmon.

Lee finally had his plates fly up and surround Rantmon. Rantmon, in his lapse, didn't react
to the wall that formed on either side of him. He was right in the center of the plates
when a wall was formed. He was torn into two pieces. The plates shattered from putting so
much energy into cutting Rantmon. And Lee saw that Rantmon split into smoke.

"As I said, humans are weak," Rantmon muttered beside the surprised Lee. Rantmon had his
blade up in the air, ready to cleave Lee in two. There was no defense. No other way of
hurting Rantmon. Rantmon slashed down on the frightened Lee.

The blade came down on Paul's arm, for he had shoved Lee out of the way. The blade stopped
in place as the metal from Paul's armor repelled it. Paul screamed at Lee, "Don't stand
around, moron!"

Rantmon examined Paul's armor as the boy kept him at bay. Rantmon then said with surprise,
"Amazing. Someone made armor out of celesium." Paul glared up at Rantmon, not intimidated
by Rantmon's sudden ease. It was then that he felt something. He felt heavier. He could
hardly move. He looked up at Rantmon and saw why. The aura around Rantmon had left him.

It was instead surrounding Paul. Paul felt a wave of fear come over him as he saw the faces
of the dead staring at him from all directions. "Join the party," said Rantmon as he turned
away from Paul. Paul felt immense pressure. The aura was pressing down on him. He was going
to be crushed alive!

He struggled to move. He wanted to get out of there. But he saw, left and right, the souls
were holding him down. He would die there?! He then felt something strange. He saw that the
armor on his right arm was bending. The strongest metal in the world was being crushed.

Paul could hardly move as all around him, the celesium armor dented and folded like an
aluminum can. He struggled to move. He struggled against the souls. No matter what he went
up against, he always pushed himself to the limit. Every enemy he had faced 'til now had
always been stronger than him, at least physically or mentally. Rantmon was beyond him in
both.

He still had to struggle. He saw, beyond the souls around him, Lee, sitting on the ground,
with Rantmon approaching him. Paul took a step forward. He shoved through the souls and
pushed some away. He slipped out of the grasps of some and into the reach of another. He
still persevered. The pressure became lighter. The souls became fewer. The hold became
weaker. This was his willpower at work. He can not die here!

He dashed at Rantmon as fast as he could, reaching him before Rantmon could slash Lee.
"Take this!" yelled Paul as he threw a punch at Rantmon.

With a flick of his blade, blood flew all over the Rood. Plates of metal hit the ground.
Paul flew away, slashed multiple times. His armor was cut and torn apart. He scraped along
the ground, making a line of blood. Rantmon turned and faced the weakened Lee. His spirit
had been broken, among other things.

Rantmon was feeling generous then, and with a slash, he sliced off Lee's arm. Lee screamed
in pain as his arm fell upon the symbol for light. Rantmon kicked the two out of the rood
and into the rest of the Hokuten. They caught their bleeding comrades, scared for Paul and
Lee's life.

TM looked at the Hokuten from his place by the Crew. He muttered, "Dear God!" He exchanged
glances with the rest of them. With that, he slipped away from the Crew and dashed towards
the Hokuten. "Garnet! Yanagi!" His two bishoujo appeared in a flash of crimson. "Let's help
them!"

With a powerful spell of Curaga and the aide of Yanagi, Paul's various cuts and bruises
closed and disappeared. It was much more difficult to heal Lee, whose skin tore away at the
shoulder, with blood constantly flowing. Little could be done to stop the bleeding except
for TM to form a flame in his hand and cauterize the wound. With Garnet and Yanagi's help,
even that wound was closed.

There lay Paul and Lee, unconscious. Paul was the more fortunate of them. Lee had lost an
entire arm from the shoulder. TM turned to Anya, who had a look of sadness. "All Paul lost
was his armor," said Anya. "Such a thing can be fixed, or a new one can be made. Lee... He
lost an arm and his spirit..."

Anya shook. TM just looked back down at Lee, whom had Risika tying a bandage around the
shoulder. TM then said, "You really want to do all this for us? Even after these guys were
defeated like this?"

He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He saw Risika there, standing up from patching Lee
together. "You are where everyone's hopes rest," reminded Risika. "Our purpose is to weaken
Rantmon. Do not lose sight of how important you all are."

They looked at each other for a moment before TM smiled. "Yeah, I know that. Fine, do your
thing!" Risika smiled.

Anya then turned to Risika. "Let's go," said Anya. The two stepped forward, into the Rood
Inverse.

They stretched and loosened their muscles there before everyone, relaxing before their
battle. They stood up and faced Rantmon, who was wiping the blood off his blade. Risika and
Anya immediately got to work. Risika quickly pulled out a charm with the symbol for
"Earth". She tossed it straight at Rantmon's blade with amazing accuracy.

Rantmon felt the change immediately. He struggled to keep the blade up, gripping it tightly
with both hands to fight gravity. He then saw Anya behind him. With a punch to the face,
Rantmon flew back and dropped his hooked blade onto the stone floor.

Rantmon flipped and landed on his feet as Anya sprinted straight towards him. She leapt and
kicked at him. He blocked that, as well as a frightening punch she just threw. He jumped
just in time there to dodge one of Risika's charms: "Darkness". Immediately from it sprang
a cloud of blackness, thick and impossible to see through. Rantmon landed on one side, Anya
and Risika stood in the other.

Still, Rantmon dashed into the cloud, straight at the two. Anya gripped her right wrist,
feeling it throb underneath her glove. 'Damn it, not now!' she thought. Then she saw
Rantmon emerge from the cloud. So much for being impossible to see through!

Anya was frozen, the throbbing pain in her arm immobilizing her. Rantmon pulled back a
fist, ready to slam into Anya's face. Anya suddenly saw Risika before her. "Risika!" she
screamed just as Rantmon slammed his fist into Risika's cheek.

Risika flew a great distance, skidding along the Rood and tumbling out. She could hardly
move then. The impact had been immense. She felt her cheek broken and the skin on her
shoulder searing. Rantmon then saw Anya, blood all over her arm. He then felt a stabbing
pain in his shoulder.

"What the?!" he yelled in surprise. He was hurt for the second time. These people were
surprising! He then saw what had hit him. Anya's bone tore out of her forearm and had
pierced him. "Your bones?!"

"I fight with my body," Anya began. Anya quickly dashed back and was a distance away. The
bone fell from her arm and hit the ground, and Rantmon saw the wound close and disappear.
"My cells... They can multiply infinitely. Not only that, but I can control how they
multiply. Because of that..."

Anya held up her palm. There was a bulge in the center of it. Rantmon stood there,
surprised, as the hand tore open and revealed the tip of a sword. Out came a hilt, which
Anya grabbed with her hand. The sword continued to be revealed, a thin blade of clean bone
which surprised everyone in the room.

***

"Bones?!" repeated a surprised Amiko back at the Crew. Anya had never mentioned that when
she had practiced with her. She had been a master of the winds, but she didn't use them in
this fight... She couldn't understand Anya at all. "Anya... She is more secretive than
Orion..."

***

Anya readied her blade. "I have packed my bone cells tightly. They are bonded to be
stronger than even celesium. It can not be broken."

She disappeared. Rantmon was taken aback. She definitely did not teleport. He didn't even
see her move. "This is human movement?!" he said with surprise as he looked this way and
that. He forgot to look down.

The tip of Anya's blade stabbed straight under his skull, tearing out of the top of his
head. That Rantmon split into smoke. "Quit the mana clones, already!" Anya screamed. She
heard him. Rantmon was behind her. She spun and pulled her sword back. Rantmon caught it in
his hands.

Blood came from Rantmon's hand. He smiled. "That was number three. Impressive." Rantmon
pulled his fist back. Anya knew she was going to get it.

And then, a charm landed on Rantmon's fist. "What?!" screamed Rantmon in surprise. He
couldn't move. He was frozen.

He heard a voice call from a distance away, "The Seal of Evil. You can't move as long as
that charm is on you." He knew who it was. It was Risika. Anya turned and saw Risika,
barely standing on her shaking feet.

"Risika! Are you okay?!" asked Anya as she pulled her blade away from Rantmon. Suddenly,
she felt her hand throb again. She leapt away from Rantmon, gripping the glove on her hand
as Risika stepped forward.

"I've had better days," answered Risika as she pulled out the same brush she used to get
rid of TM's Blood Sin. In her other hand, she produced a green vial from a back on her
belt. She opened it and dipped the brush in and set to work.

She dashed around Rantmon and drew a circle around him, and in record time, there were
large encircled triangles about Rantmon with arcane runes all around, done with the green
substance. Risika clapped her hands together. "The Eternal Dragon Seal!"

Rantmon was taken aback to see the green lines moving all around. He saw the lines rise and
twist around him. He saw the lines split and form into heads of dragons. He struggled to
move. He used his strength to at least move his head about. His head twitched just a tiny
bit. Risika was taken by surprise just to see that.

Rantmon still moved. His movements became more fluid. Though slow, he moved his left hand
over to his right. Risika hoped the seal would go faster. She prayed for the spell to go
faster. Rantmon moved his hand over to his right fist. He reached for the charm.

And finally, the first green line of energy swooped down and struck his left arm. It
refused to move. "What?!" Rantmon uttered as the green dragon heads sped towards him. They
bit down on his skin at all parts and wrapped around him. He struggled to move. Yes, these
people were amazing.

Risika somehow didn't feel relief, even as she saw her spell working then. She thought that
Rantmon's tenacity was unsettling. Then she saw it. Rantmon moved his arm and tore off the
charm. Not only that, he tore away from the dragons and stepped up to Risika. She was too
surprised to move.

Rantmon was about to finish his job and crush her skull when he heard Anya scream, "DON'T
YOU DARE GET CLOSER TO HER." Rantmon turned and saw Anya, seeing him eye to eye.

'Wait, wasn't she shorter?' he thought as he received a powerful uppercut. He flew away and
landed on his back. He saw Anya, taller and seeming to be older. She had changed. He heard
Risika ask, "Anya...?! Your glove!"

They all saw it. Everyone all around the Rood, especially the Crew and Orion, saw that the
glove had torn off of Anya's hand, replaced with bones tearing out of her hand. Anya raised
her hand and let the bones fall out. The wounds healed after that, leaving the taller,
older, and better looking Anya. "My body couldn't be compressed for long," said Anya. "It
needs to be at full potential, anyway."

***

"Compressed?" TM whispered to Orion on the edge of the Rood.

Orion explained, "The glove on her hand makes her body shorter and weaker. She is an
incredible fighter with deadly abilities, but has terrible memories. She sealed off her
abilities then and never wanted to unseal them..."

"Hmm," muttered TM as he turned back to Anya. These Hokuten were stranger than he
originally thought.

***

"But... Anya!" yelled Risika. "If you fight for too long, you might faint and never wake
up!"

Anya just stepped forward, towards Rantmon. "I'll have to take that bet," she replied. "Lee
and Paul bet their lives on this battle, and both only made it out with a little life. I
need to do the same." A sword tore out of Anya's hand and the wound healed in an instant.
Her cell's multiplication speed had greatly increased, Rantmon observed.

Rantmon got to thinking, 'Her bones are longer, so her movements should be faster with
longer strides. Not only that, but her muscles have gotten larger...' His thoughts were
interrupted. He flew up from Anya's kick. She had moved in an instant!

As he began to fly up, Anya was already above him and readied her blade of bone. With many
quick motions, she stabbed. She stabbed and pulled and stabbed again. She did so many
times; piercing Rantmon's shirt and pulling away just to thrust again.

And her blade shattered. She felt the impact. Her blade had shattered and Rantmon's shirt
had torn away. 'But this...' Anya had began. 'This is impossible!' She then saw the armor
surrounding Rantmon, hidden under the brown shirt. Even the hood of Rantmon had fallen
away, revealing his shabby brown hair that was poorly conditioned. Still, no one saw his
eyes. Everyone saw the metal band circling around his head and covering his eyes, the Rood
Inverse particularly clear in the center of it.

"Rantmon... What the Hell?!" Anya muttered as she flipped away. "How the Hell can you fight
with that covering your eyes?!"

Rantmon smiled, reaching for his blade embedded into the stone. He pulled it free and faced
Anya. "Covering? It makes me see clearer than I ever can." Quickly, he dashed forward,
ready to slice through Anya. He had little chance to get even close to her.

He saw with surprise as bones tore from Anya. Many spiky bones tore from her arms. Many
ripped out of her chest and back. Many more tore out of her legs and produced an armor of
piercing bone. Rantmon couldn't stop himself before many of the spikes impaled his arms and
legs. He felt his warm blood flowing from his wounds. He was angry. He would defeat her no
matter what.

He painfully wrenched himself away from the stinging mess of Anya's spikes. He stepped back
in pain and muttered, "Shit... Those bones are incredibly strong." Everyone then saw it.
From his wounds came a gray, bulging, throbbing substance. It covered his wounds and
stopped the blood flow, but no doubt revealed the frightening thing controlling him.

***

"That's..." began Davis as he stared straight at the spectacle that was Rantmon.

"That's the virus?!" Cindy wondered as she saw the body of Rantmon covered by the
throbbing, gray organism.

Amiko stared straight at it with surprise and fear. She shook with fear, wondering how they
would beat him. Even Anya didn't stand a chance. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. She
turned and saw Kensou standing there, supporting her and comforting her. She even felt
Tenpi nudging against her from his place in her arms. She forced a smile and turned back to
the battle.

***

Bloody bones lay on the floor all around Anya. She panted, fatigued from all the energy she
had spent on trying to hurt Rantmon. She could hardly move, then. The lactic acid in her
muscles made her feel like she could keel over and die at any moment. Such a thing was
impossible now, she knew, but she couldn't go on if she fainted now.

She felt herself get lighter. She felt more strength come to her. She had to keep going.
Her body was forcing her to move. "Damn it, stop producing adrenaline!" she yelled at
herself as she dashed forward to Rantmon. Once again, a sword tore out of her left hand and
she grabbed it with her right. She thrusted it forward, at any weak points she could find
on Rantmon.

But he had changed. His movements had gotten faster, he blocked every blow with his hands,
letting them take the hits. He dodged left and right, away from Anya and back towards her.
He was moving strangely. Still, she kept up with him, leaping into the air and giving him a
twirling roundhouse kick in midair. He blocked with his forearm. She spun and did the same
with her other leg. He did the same with his other arm.

She twisted around and jabbed her blade at Rantmon's neck. Rantmon dashed back and away at
an incredible speed. He became more agile than her. She could hardly touch his body. She
used all of the strength in her legs. She was behind Rantmon in an instant.

And there she met the back at Rantmon's hand. He had seen her move. He had seen her move
like that for the first time. Anya tumbled along the stone, unable to move any more. Risika
sprinted towards her as she came to a stop by hitting one of the side walls. Risika leaned
over her, unconscious and with many, many wounds from when her bones had tore out of her
skin.

Her clothes were torn and tattered. Very little was left to cover her body, and even the
few that still held together were stained with blood. Risika lifted her into a sitting
position there on the wall. She heard Anya breathing ever so slightly. She gave a relieved
sigh.

Then she heard Rantmon behind her. Rantmon had his blade raised high, ready to slice her in
two. She looked up in fear, seeing Rantmon's tense body.

An explosion sounding in the room. A bullet struck the back of Rantmon's head, bouncing off
the metal circlet. Rantmon paused. He relaxed and lowered his blade and turned back to the
Crew. They had begun to act, finally. He saw Cindy, gun raised and pointed at him. Cindy
called from afar, "If you have time to waste on them, why not just fight us, instead?!"

Cindy and Davis stepped into the Rood. Rantmon said nothing as he turned to Risika. He spat
on her and turned to face Cindy and Davis.

Risika was frozen there. She couldn't have protected Anya. She was saved by the Outlaws.
She could do nothing more. She was no longer needed. She hugged the unconscious Anya,
feeling tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't help it. She hugged Anya close to her and
let the tears flow. She couldn't help but cry.

---- To Be Continued ----

- ENDING SONG: FAITH - Aiuchi Rina -

Onaji sora o nando miagetemo sokoni wa
Shinjitsumi nante nakattayo
Honto no sora no iro o kuchi ni shitemite wa
Utsumuki aruiterunda

Akogare dake ga mata kokoro o shimetsuketeikuyo
Sutete nakushiteshimaezu kataru koto saede kinaide iru kara

So when you look at me do you feel the faith?
Me ni tomaru koto ga nakatta toshitemo
Can't we make it real we all should feel faith
"Shite wa ikenaiyo shitaku wa nai"
Sou kantan ni wa ikanai yone
Sou dekiru koto nara minna yatteru
Bokura wa itsu made koko ni iru?
Saa noriokurenaide!

---- Preview ----

["Last Wolf Suite" from the Kenshin soundtrack plays in background. The Crew minus SSJ
appear as chibi style, and random scenes from the next episode play, though you can't see
because this is text. Haha!]

Amiko: Next time! On GINGA GIRI GIRI!

TM: Things get hairy as Davis and Cindy finally join in the fray!

Kensou: Can Davis and Cindy deal the final deathblow to Rantmon?

Davis: And if not, can Kino? And uh... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT GUY DOING HERE?!

Cindy: Next, on GINGA GIRI GIRI! "The Storm of the Century"

----