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 Final Downdraft ( Chapter 73 )

[ 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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---- Chapter 73: The Battle with Rantmon - Part 6 : The Final Downdraft ----

The beats of SSJ's heart seemed louder than ever. He heard the blood pumping through his
body in rhythm with the beats. His breathing was slowed. His movements stopped. Dark was
dead. Rantmon had killed Dark.

In an instant, SSJ remembered all the crimes Rantmon had committed. All the people he had
killed. He remembered the burned down village. He remembered Dumbledore. He remembered it
all and felt all the hatred come up again.

SSJ screamed again, letting his aura rise up from his body. The stones were shoved away.
Lines were etched into the ground. Rantmon saw SSJ get to his feet, ignoring all the pain
in his body. SSJ's eyes were white with anger, and his muscles were tense. "RANTMON,"
screamed SSJ. "I'LL KILL YOU."

SSJ was once again behind Rantmon. Rantmon turned to face him. But in the middle of his
turn, he felt SSJ's fist make contact with his cheek. Bones shattered in SSJ's hand.
Rantmon flew back and crashed into the wall, which crumbled down. He looked up and saw SSJ,
anger spilling from him. 'What the Hell?!' thought Rantmon.

But Rantmon wouldn't let that stop him. That attack shattered his arm. It's as good as
useless. He sped forward, planning to do the same to SSJ. In an instant, he saw SSJ had
moved his sword and blocked the full impact of the Atma. Rantmon was taken aback. The
little Hellfire Sword blocked the Atma?! 'Where did this power come from?!' Rantmon yelled
in his mind.

SSJ screamed at Rantmon, "You asshole! Why did Dark have to die?! Answer!"

"Tch," Rantmon uttered. Rantmon pressed forward, struggling to get the better half of SSJ.
"Dark?! Dark was merely a weak copy of you! A weak irrelevant body that blocked my plans...
Such a being does not deserve life... Death is its only answer."

SSJ used his broken arm to shove his blade forward, fighting against Rantmon with every bit
of his body. "Moreover," continued Rantmon, "See this weapon? This is the Atma. It is one
of the most powerful legendary weapons in the world. It doesn't have a soul."

SSJ's eyes widened. He remembered what Davis said about swords having two parts, a soul and
a body. He remembered that day in Osseke, when Dark took the energy... The Atma! It clicked
in SSJ. "You needed the soul of the Atma," he stated. Rantmon smiled.

SSJ shook in anger, and finally, he gave Rantmon a powerful kick to the gut. Rantmon
skidded back, feeling little pain in that. SSJ's leg, however, took the impact. The bones
of his leg fractured. SSJ bottled up the pain, clenching his teeth even tighter.

And then, everyone saw it. They were frozen in fear then. Rantmon was stunned, grip
loosening on the Atma weapon. SSJ felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned in surprise and
saw Dark, white as a ghost. "D-Dark?!" SSJ exclaimed.

Dark did not reply. His eyes were still white. They hadn't moved since he was attacked.
Blood no longer flowed from his wound. He had lost it all... SSJ shook in fear. He said,
"It can't be... Dark is moving after he died?!"

"Impossible!" came from the crowd.

"That's incredible!" yelled another one.

The rest of the Crew looked around. The crowd had been moved, seeing the dead body rise was
the single most amazing thing they have seen in their lives. The rest of the Crew looked
back at the fight. "It really is amazing," muttered Cindy. TM nodded.

***

SSJ recalled back to the day before. He and Dark had finished their training, fighting so
hard that their knuckles were raw and red. Dark stepped away, walking to the edge of the
platform and sitting upon it.

SSJ felt a towel on his head. He looked up and saw Momo standing there. He smiled and used
the towel to dry himself.

"It's tomorrow," Momo bluntly stated as she sat down by him.

"Yeah," SSJ replied as he stopped toweling himself. He thought about if their training was
enough. He wondered whether Rantmon could be taken down by them. He recalled all of
Rantmon's shows of strength. From the first battle with the mana clone to the act if
capturing the Six Gods, Rantmon had been far above him.

Dark's voice cut into SSJ's thoughts then, "Light, these'll probably be our last days."

SSJ and Momo suddenly looked at Dark. Dark didn't look back. "Why do you say that?" SSJ
asked. "Sure, Rantmon is stronger and all, but..."

"You're not thinking of having him die with you, are you?!" Momo yelled, getting to her
feet.

Dark sighed and stood up upon the edge of the platform. He stepped away and walked towards
the two. "No, but because of Rantmon's strength, we may have to combine," he said.

SSJ and Momo were silent. They stared at Dark as he continued, "We were halves of a whole,
right? We may be strong now, but if we were only half as strong as Rantmon, we wouldn't
harm him, no matter what."

It clicked in SSJ, then. "However, if we combine, our powers would add together and be just
about as equal as his!"

"If he's that weak," Dark added.

SSJ's eyes narrowed. "Weak?" he repeated. Dark didn't say anything about that. But SSJ
understood the idea. The only thing he didn't understand was how. He then inquired, "How
will we fuse again?"

Then, a familiar voice answered from behind them, "Leave that to me." Everyone turned
around. Frank Miguel stood at the top of the winding steps, grinning. He continued, "I can
patch you together. It's like patching a split file together. Nothing hard at all!" Frank
then proceeded to laugh with pride.

Somehow, none of the three felt comfortable with that.

***

SSJ was brought back to the time and place. Now was he was fighting Rantmon. He couldn't
hold back. A smile formed on SSJ's lips. Dark was still clinging onto his body. He was
fighting Death with every fiber of his body. SSJ shook, feeling the overwhelming emotion.
The two exchanged glances. They knew what they had to do.

SSJ let his white aura burst forth. It engulfed the area around him. It was big, but still
nowhere as big as TM's aura. Still, they all felt its power. Dark moved and stood before
SSJ, facing the boy.

Rantmon didn't know what was happening, but he wouldn't allow it! He dashed forward, ready
to jab straight through Dark and at SSJ.

Blood flew into the air. A sword tore through Dark. The Hellfire Sword stabbed through
Dark's chest and cut into Rantmon's own. Rantmon was taken aback. He tried to speak,
"You..."

"Dark's body's already dead," SSJ bluntly said. "Besides, the body won't exist for long."
SSJ put his hand on Dark's chest, right over his heart. "It is finally time for us to
become whole! Now, Frank!"

A voice then boomed through the room, "Okay!" Rantmon froze, realizing who it was that
spoke.

A completely black light came from Dark's body. It resonated with SSJ's aura. Everyone saw
the two auras, not clashing, but mixing. The auras came together, and bit by bit, Dark's
body split into light. Even with the Hellfire Sword impaling through him, Dark's body split
apart and entered SSJ's. The aura grew. Wounds on SSJ healed. They heard the cracking sound
of his bones moving into their correct place.

Dark was gone, and the Hellfire Sword still stabbed into Rantmon's chest. SSJ's white aura
no longer existed. The color of his aura changed. From white to a strange red and finally
to a blue very different from the aura of ice.

Amiko then thought about the colors. She then realized it. "Stars," she uttered. Everyone
turned to her. "Those were the colors of the stars..."

Everyone turned to SSJ, seeing him refreshed, healed, and facing Rantmon with a smile.
Amiko continued, "He had become one with Dark, and their element mixed to form a Hybrid
element: Star."

No one could believe it. Two people had fused together and their auras had mixed. Cindy
then spoke, "This is the true SSJ, the one we knew before we came here." Everyone was
silent they stared at SSJ as he kicked Rantmon away. Rantmon skidded to a stop, and he
looked up and saw SSJ. He was different.

SSJ thought to himself, 'I'm back to my original self... But right now I still have some
internal injuries. I dunno how long I can last.' He glanced at Rantmon and assessed the
situation, 'That Atma weapon is far stronger than my Hellfire Sword. I can't fight for long
until the Hellfire Sword breaks...'

Rantmon dashed forward. SSJ pulled out the black half of his aura and yelled, "Shadow Fist!"

Rantmon felt the punch to his face, and he came to a sudden stop. SSJ saw Rantmon speed up,
closing the distance. Rantmon turned into a blur. SSJ couldn't stop him with the Shadow
Fist. "Tch!" SSJ uttered as he kicked off the ground with his feet.

Rantmon slashed horizontally, but SSJ was already in the air. "Ryuu Tsui Sen!" SSJ shouted
as he slashed down upon Rantmon. Rantmon blocked with the Atma. SSJ kicked off of the flat
side of the Atma and landed away from Rantmon.

Rantmon came charging after him. With a clang, both blades met. SSJ ducked and rolled away
as the Atma struck the stone floor, utterly destroying it. SSJ moved quickly, appearing
behind Rantmon with his blade held before him. "Kuzu Ryuu Sen!" he shouted.

Rantmon countered, pulling his leg back and attempting to kick SSJ. SSJ barely moved out of
the way of the kick. SSJ pulled back his hand and put his aura into it. Rantmon turned
around and saw SSJ's glowing fist. Rantmon threw his elbow at SSJ.

SSJ hit first, striking Rantmon's chest with his palm. Rantmon's elbow collided with SSJ's
cheek. SSJ crashed into the ground and scraped away, only to be stopped by Momo and the
Crew.

Rantmon stood in place, glaring at where he heard SSJ's breaths. Suddenly, blood came from
his mouth. He had coughed out blood. He swore, "Damn it... That attack was against my
internal organs..."

SSJ got to his feet. He panted, feeling his cheekbone broken. A direct hit with just his
elbow was trouble. SSJ noticed his Hellfire Sword. Several cracks had already appeared in
it already. It was definitely not going to take another hit from the Atma.

He thought of what to do, and he came to only one conclusion. He sheathed his sword and
crouched down into his battoujutsu stance. Rantmon realized his plan upon hearing the
sheathing of the sword. He was going to use the succession technique... The Ama Kakeru Ryuu
no Hirameki.

Rantmon smiled. SSJ was the only other one in the Rood, then. Rantmon smiled and said, "I
suppose this fight depends on this last attack. I'm tired of letting my opponents go." SSJ
didn't know what he meant by that.

The Rood Inverse on the stone ground began to glow. It changed from its light blue color to
pure white, brighter than any light they had seen. SSJ had to shield his eyes, as he was
standing over it. Then, a new color spread across the Rood. Blood red. SSJ froze as the
Rood turned completely red.

All around the two, a red wall formed separating the two from the rest of the world. SSJ
looked around. A storm of red energy churned around them, keeping on the edges of the
arcane shape. He then saw Rantmon, white aura pouring forth from his body. He saw the souls
shaping in the aura. He saw them moving about. They moved into the wall of the Rood. One by
one, the souls took their shape in the speeding torrent surrounding him. Arms grasped for
relief. Faces twisted in agony. All around him, he heard nothing but the groans of all the
souls embedded in the wall.

"What the Hell is this?!" screamed SSJ.

Rantmon smiled, white aura still pouring from his body. "This is the Wall of the Dead.
Everyone I have killed was absorbed into my aura, and now, they are absorbed by the wall.
No one can bother us, but they can see what will happen when you die. The wall will take
you, and you will join my party." Rantmon smiled. SSJ just glared at him.

"SSJ!" screamed TM from outside. "Damn it, this is bad!" The others saw TM dashing at the
wall, but he was promptly shoved back by the souls in the wall. He tried again, only to
meet the same result. He swore. No one could help him now.

SSJ tensed up, remaining in his battoujutsu stance. Rantmon replied by holding his sword
over his head, tip aimed at SSJ with the flat side towards the sky. "Ougi. Jinchuu," said
Rantmon. His feet were wide apart, with his left foot in front.

SSJ moved first. Rantmon thrusted the Atma into the ground, which ripped apart from the
impact. A line of destruction raced at SSJ, who quickly dodged to the side. SSJ was right
by Rantmon when he drew his sword. "AMA KAKERU RYUU NO HIRAMEKI!" he screamed. Rantmon
swung his sword at him.

The Atma tore from the stone. SSJ's sword emerged from its sheathe. They struck each other,
and went past. Rantmon and SSJ pivoted, preparing for the second strike.

The people outside the Wall saw how similar the techniques were. Anya muttered under her
breath, "The technique of a dragon in Heaven versus that of a man on the Earth. The only
way for the man to win was to use a similar technique."

The Crew turned to her. "What was that?" asked Amiko. Anya forced a smile and just shook
her head. They turned back to see the two fighters.

SSJ was pulled towards Rantmon. Rantmon was pulled towards SSJ. No matter what SSJ did, he
was doomed. Their swords came close.

SSJ's sword hit. It hit Rantmon's forearm, right under the wrist. It cut through the skin
and hit the bone. And the sword shattered from the impact. Rantmon's bones were stronger
than the damaged Hellfire Sword. Everyone saw it, wondering if it missed Rantmon's body.

Rantmon lost grip of the Atma, and it flew past SSJ, slicing into the broken wall and
coming to a stop. Rantmon moved away, grabbing his forearm in pain. Blood flowed from the
wound. Even worse, Rantmon lost feeling in the hand. "What did you do?!" demanded Rantmon.

SSJ coughed and fell to his knees, too exhausted to move. He struggled to speak, but the
words came out of his mouth, "I can't beat you normally, so I have to handicap you even
more." SSJ raised his head and faced Rantmon. "I put my aura into my sword and had it cut
your nerves."

Everyone outside felt the tension from the battle. A little of hit had been relieved when
they heard that. Amiko thought, 'I see! So, nerves can't be replaced at all! Rantmon can't
use that sword!'

But they saw SSJ, already too weak to do much more. SSJ was heaving, struggling to breathe.
Rantmon swore, giving up on trying to make his right hand move. The gray substance oozed
out of the wounds and covered it quickly. Rantmon stepped up to SSJ, who slowly got to his
feet.

Rantmon backhanded him with his left, and SSJ went flying towards the broken wall. Though,
he never reached it, for he was caught in the Wall of the Dead. They rushed at him and
pushed him away, with him too weak to move.

Rantmon stepped towards him, face still set in a glare. SSJ couldn't move as he lay on the
ground, just trying to breathe. His thoughts echoed in his head, 'With the will, you can do
anything... With the determination, you can even overcome death...'

SSJ rolled over to lay on his front. He struggled to shove off and stand, but his arms
wouldn't move. He felt dizzy. Just staying awake was tiring. But slowly, he forced his body
to move. His legs burned and ached, but with his heavy arms, he pushed off and balanced on
them. He swayed from left to right, and finally stopped. He looked at Rantmon, his vision
getting blurry.

He pulled back an arm and weakly swung at Rantmon. It tapped Rantmon's shoulder and fell.
Rantmon smiled and put his left hand on SSJ's head, ready to crush it like a nut.

And suddenly, there was a gigantic smash. Rantmon looked up and saw the crystal of the God
of Light falling apart. The God burst from his prison and immediately flew towards the sky,
moving at a high speed. He saw the dragons, Treva and Darigaaz, thrashing and screaming
before finally splitting into powder. He felt the strength drain from him.

He screamed letting go of SSJ and stepping back. His skin burned again with his entire aura
leaving him. He coughed blood, his internal organs being damaged further.

There was a deafening crash. Giant cuts appeared in the stone walls. The walls crumbled
down, and the crowd was only lucky to dodge. Everyone was screaming. The towers fell from
their place and crashed into the ocean far below. The castle toppled down. Bricks fell from
their places. "What the Hell is going on?" screamed Rantmon.

All around, they saw the blue sky. There no longer were walls to shade them from the bright
blue light all around. But the chaos didn't end. A giant cut appeared in the middle of the
Rood Inverse. Rantmon was taken aback to see it disappear, and with it, the wall broke
apart. "No!" shouted Rantmon as the souls were freed. He chased after them, but before he
could reach one, they had all faded away. They had finally left the world. "What
happened?!" Rantmon demanded.

"Payback," a single deep voice replied. Rantmon froze. He was filled with fear. He knew who
it was. And in his state, that person was the one who could completely destroy him. Rantmon
turned to look at SSJ's body, and standing over it was a single man.

His arms were crossed, and the scars all over them were clear. Everyone saw his completely
black hair, partially covering his red eyes. Power glowed from his built body, covered in a
pure white kimono... A death robe in Japanese custom. Rantmon turned white. "It can't be...
Atma!" Rantmon uttered.

Atma's eyes narrowed, and his mouth curled into a smile. He turned and saw the Atma weapon
standing up where the wall was. He turned and stepped to it, picking it up and resting the
back of it on his shoulder. This was indeed very daring, for the Atma weapon was a
double-bladed katana. Only one part of the Atma was flat, and that was the short length
near the hilt.

"You have even tried to use my sword," Atma muttered.

Rantmon stepped back, taken by fear. "How?! You died long ago!" he screamed.

Everyone was frozen, surprised at seeing even Rantmon taken by such fear. Atma replied, "A
hundred years to be exact. This was my punishment for betraying the Gods. They took my
death and not my life. My soul wandered, ending up in the possession of a man named
Kuroyama Tsubasa. And after that, you know the rest."

"I know that! But... You have a body! How?!" Rantmon screamed, pointing defiantly at the
man.

Atma smiled. "It is very simple," explained Atma. "I used the people down below."

Rantmon repeated, "Down below..." Rantmon suddenly paused. He realized what he meant. The
Rift... The many bodies that had died within the Rift so long ago... Rantmon lost his
breath. "This can't be!"

"It is," Atma sternly replied. He then gripped tightly on his weapon and pointed the tip at
Rantmon. "Today, I pay you back for what you did... YOU ARE THE REASON I'M STILL ALIVE,
VIRUS!"

Everyone froze. They had heard the Crew speak of the Virus, inside Rantmon, but knew not of
what that meant. In an instant, Atma was at Rantmon, blade in the air. Blood spilled across
the area. Atma slashed clear through Rantmon. From his shoulder to his hip, blood flew from
Rantmon's wound. Very messily and to the disgust of the crowd, the upper half of Rantmon
fell to the ground, while the other collapsed forward. Atma slung his sword on his shoulder.

Everyone was silent. They feared this man. The man who killed Rantmon with one slash. They
saw him raise his sword and stab it into Rantmon's head. "COME OUT, VIRUS!" screamed Atma.

Everyone saw it. From the two halves of the body, the ooze spilled out. From the veins, it
crawled out and moved away. Quickly, it moved away from Atma, taking form from the ooze.
Thin, jointed legs like that of an insect came up and started crawling away. Four of them
appeared, and the rest of the ooze shaped into a human body. It was a completely gray
organism, bubbling at points and seeming to melt. The gray ooze could not hold itself long.

Atma glared at it. "You've finally shown your true self, Virus," Atma called.

A hiss came from the Virus, "Curse you, Atma! See what you just did?! I was so near to the
center of the Rift!"

"SHUT UP!" Atma's voice boomed. Virus was immediately silenced. "I ruined your plans?! Who
was the one who promised to help me?! No, right when it seemed I was going to lose, you
pulled yourself out of me!" Atma's face was full of hatred, not showing one bit of care for
the being before him.

"It's fight or flight!" Virus responded. "They are basic animal instincts! And right now is
the same situation!" Virus turned and headed for the edge. "Sadly, I can not let you kill
me. As much as I hate life, I won't let myself disappear without achieving my goal!"

A figure suddenly appeared right beside Virus. Everyone saw him, hair slicked back wearing
tight clothes. They particularly noticed the tattoo on his neck in the shape of the kanji
for "West". TM recognized him. Virus moved up to him and thinned out, entering his body
through the arm, neck and ear. Quickly, the entire gray ooze had disappeared within Suzaku
of the Nishiten.

TM bursted forward and shouted, "You! Why the Hell are you with that thing?!"

There was a slight pause. "I have no time to deal with trash like you," Suzaku replied
without looking back. With that, he dashed towards the edge.

Atma chased after him, screaming, "You're not escaping!" Atma suddenly was in front of
Suzaku. Suzaku expected as much skill. He put his hands to his mouth and whistled. Atma
swung his sword for a slash. Suddenly, an arm crashed into him and shoved him away. Atma
scraped along the ground and turned around

On the edge of the floating island was Genbu. His arm was long enough to reach Atma, and he
smiled. Atma's glare became more twisted. He only said, "You..." He saw Suzaku leap over
the edge.

Genbu smiled, eyes wide and white. He said with a tone of happiness, "I'm glad to see you
again, Atma!" His face then settled and became more serious. "As much as I'd like to
continue our bout, I unfortunately have to go." With that, Genbu stepped off the edge and
fell down.

Atma gritted his teeth and sprinted towards the edge. However, before he got there at his
incredible speed, there was a gigantic boom. The water crashed under the island. A plane
moved in an instant past the horizon. Atma stood there and watched it disappear. He dropped
his sword upon the ground and swore every word he knew.

Everyone of the crowd was frozen in place, not knowing how to act with the new comer. One
of them was frozen more than everyone else. Anya was shaking. She shook all over, fear
gripping her tightly. Risika turned back and saw her. "Anya!" she yelled. The Crew looked
over and saw her, quaking and doing nothing else.

"What's wrong?!" Amiko inquired. Risika shook her head, not knowing.

Anya's teeth clattered, and she was unable to answer. But words slowly spilled from her
mouth. "Genbu... Shinsuke... My... Brother..." Everyone who had heard it were puzzled.

Until TM realized it. He pushed up to Anya and yelled, "That guy with the arm was your
brother?!" Anya shakily nodded. Everyone looked at her, not knowing what to do.

Then they heard someone come up from behind. They saw Atma, carrying SSJ over his shoulder.
Atma set him down before the Crew. "He'll be fine," said Atma. TM went to him and made him
stand, slinging SSJ's arm over his shoulder.

TM turned up to look at Atma. "Who are you?" asked TM, careful not to stay to close to the
man.

Atma sighed and replied, "A soul that lived for far too long."

With that, it grew silent again. Amiko then recalled Davis. She pressed through the crowd
and got to his body, unharmed from the collapsing walls. Hayden was awake, cleaning the
boy's body. The Crew followed her. The weight of the world came down on them. Despite the
fact that Rantmon had been killed, they were not sure whether they won at all.

---- END OF ARC 4 : TO BE CONTINUED ----

- ENDING SONG: CAN YOU FEEL THE POWER OF WORDS - Aiuchi Rina - [1]

Nanika ni osorete nanika wo sake
Kokoro hiraku koto muzukashii to omotte shimau keredo
Nee tozasanaide

Kotoba ga kimi no naka ya soto de
Hirogatte chikara ni naru kara

Watashi no kotoba ga kimi e
Kimi no kokoro ni tsunagaru you ni
Watashitachi no aruku michi wa chigattemo ne
Itsumo kokoro wa tsunagatteru

---- Preview ----

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

SSJ: TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T BEAT RANTMON!

Amiko: You still have the longest fight. Half of last chapter plus half of this chapter.

Kensou: Yeah, you make yourself so special in this story.

SSJ: GAH! DEAL WITH IT! Anyway, next, who is this Atma guy?

TM: What does he have to do with this Virus?

Cindy: And what does Anya have to do with any of them?

All: Next on GINGA GIRI GIRI! "The War the World Forgot"

----