Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian Chronicles: Book 1 ❯ First Battle ( Chapter 2 )

Most of the people had cleared out, but he could make out four people down below, fighting about twenty of the strangest looking characters he'd ever seen in his life. They appeared to be wearing some kind of black samurai armor. Even at the distance he was, he could see that the figures had no facial features, just two glowing white eyes. Next to him, Starfire hovered silently, her usually nonchalant expression a mixture of anger, malice, and fear. He came back to reality when he heard Jean's scream as she and Remy were thrown into one of the nearby rides.

Warren and Starfire angled down to join the fight, and the samurai vanished. The four warriors picked themselves up and joined their friends.

"What were those things?" Jean stammered, when she was finally able to speak.

"I have no idea." Warren answered.

Remy groaned, "I thought we come here to get away from dis type of ting for awhile."

"Starfire, d'you know anything about this?" Angela asked. No answer. "Starf--!?!"

Angela got a good look at the newcomer that has Starfire's undivided attention, and it was all she could do to keep from screaming. Another samurai. This one was definitely a lot different from the others. He was wearing gray armor with a brown and yellow surcoat over it, and his helm had a blood-red mask. The eyes beneath the mask were very human. He carried a kusari-gama.

"Somethin' tell me we in a lot of trouble," Remy muttered.

The samurai smiled coldly, "You have no idea, mortal."

Starfire boldly took a few steps forward, so that she was standing between her friends and the stranger. "You want something, Dynasty scum, spit it out, before I cut it out with your kusari-gama," she growled.

The Z-senshi were staring at Starfire now, trying to figure out how she knew this guy.

"Dynasty? How would a mortal know of the Dynasty?" the samurai asked, genuinely confused.

Starfire grinned. "Come now, Anubis, surely you haven't forgotten me already," she said sweetly.

The samurai, Anubis, regarded her silently for several moments. Finally, "Inferno? Is that you?"

"What do you think."

Anubis smiled. "And Arago thought you had been destroyed. I should have known better. Very well. Because you are such a worthy and honorable adversary, I will give you a chance. Leave now. We have no quarrel with you."

Starfire bristled, obviously taking offense to what the samurai just said. "Honor? Phaugh! What would a Warlord know of honor? I'll make you a deal. Get your big butt back to Arago, and tell him he can look for another dimension to conquer, or Inferno's gonna kick his sorry ass all the way back to Hell where it belongs," she demanded icily.

Anubis regarded her for a long moment, and was about to answer when another voice cut him off. "Anubis, Lady Raenafel wants you back in the Nether Realm. Immediately."

Anubis glanced at the other samurai that had just appeared coldly for a moment, then departed. The other samurai just smiled.

Starfire seemed even more upset at this new samurai than she was with Anubis. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face, Sehkmet. Without him to back you up I'd've beaten you long ago," she spat.

Sehkmet glared at her, "I'll deal with you later, Inferno," he responded calmly, and disappeared.

Starfire breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't really wanted to fight them now, anyhow. Anubis, alone, was a worthy opponent; she didn't want to fight them both with so many people in close proximity. She turned to her friends now, and realized they were staring at her.

"What?!"

The questions came all at once. "How do you know those two?"

"What's the Dynasty?"

"Who's 'Lady Raenafel'?"

"What's dis 'Inferno' ting?"

Warren alone remained silent. He was as curious as his teammates, but he knew her well enough to know she'd only tell them what she wanted them to know, anyway.

Starfire sighed. "I've fought them before. On another assignment. I really didn't think I'd have to deal with them again. The Dynasty is another name for the Nether Realm. In other words, the dimension inhabited by lost souls. I have no idea who Lady Raenafel is. And as for Inferno..."-she paused, as if searching for the right words-"it's just... something Anubis and the other Dynasty scum call me."

The others accepted her answer, but Warren knew she was lying. At least about Inferno. He wasn't sure how he knew, he just did.