~Notes~
The revelations just don’t stop! Although I don’t know how many of you saw this one coming..*cough*

Episode 35 The Rift Opens Again

Bright red alarm lights flare overhead, as troops and random messengers scatter about, crying out orders or otherwise words of fear to each other as they move.

“Lady! Laaddyyy!” a messenger hurries up to a lone woman shrouded in gray garments. The two of them stand in the midst of a huddle of people running about inside a large control room, where just as many people sit at computers, typing orders into the database.

Behind the Lady is a large computerized screen, displaying various areas under surveillance. The Lady turns as the messenger heads towards her, breathless.

She raises a hand to stop him. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve just returned with word from 4th Station,” the messenger cries feverishly. “It seems that another unauthorized break-in has occurred from the Underworld portal.”

At these words, the Lady stiffens considerably. She glances at the surveillance screen anxiously. “Send word for all troops to head over to 4th Station immediately. Do not let any unidentified fugitives across!”

“Understood!” the boy cries, before hurrying off to deliver the message.

Her composure now disturbed, the Lady glances once again at the computerized screen before her. She turns to a girl sitting at a computer next to her. “Bring up 4th Station on the surveillance screen.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the girl replies, before typing in the command to her computer.

At this action, the computer screen focuses in completely on one single image outside: a guard tower built of wood stands alone in the middle of a forest clearing, while several guards dressed in rags carry blunt knives and weapons in their hands.

The Lady bites her lip at this sight. “With the kind of men we’re putting into action, I’m beginning to grow uneasy. But we’ve got no one other than willing villagers, yet that’s just what they are…villagers.”

Suddenly the villagers on the screen make loud cries of alarm, as several fugitives enter from the left of the screen. The villagers brandish their knives, panicking greatly themselves.

The Lady’s eyes widen as she watches this particular scene. Without explanation, she turns and runs off for the exit to the room, disappearing amongst the mass of moving personnel.

“Lady! Wait! What’s wrong?” the girl at the computer cries, leaping to her feet even as the Lady vanishes in the midst of the crowd.

‘I never thought they’d show up…’

Outside, Zack the Priest watches the scene below, hidden in one of the upper boughs of a large oak tree. A woman dressed all in gray runs hastily in the direction of the hills to the west, an Asianic Bow hanging by her side.

He stretches, yawning lazily as he takes note of the incident. Several birds chirp loudly in protest as he fumbles about, shaking loose some leaves in the process. “Ah…I was getting tired of sitting around in a tree like a bird all day anyway. Well, well…guess I got t’tell Lord Kimura that I’ve just identified our lil’ nemesis here. To think that it’s a cute girl too!”

Zack suddenly clambers out of hiding from within the tree, standing loosely on top of a thick, ancient branch. He conjures his Kage out of nowhere, and with a last, fleeting glance at the girl running off in the distance below, teleports out of the area, leaving a bough of leaves shaking vigorously in the process.

The huddle of men surrounding them suddenly appears to swell, as reinforcements from other stations burst into the clearing, each lowly man bearing his own knife.

“Just how many of you are there?!” Ryuu growls, waving his flaming sword about. “I’ve already told you guys a thousand times, we’re not here to hurt you!”

Lily screams suddenly as one of the men grabs her by the arm. She kicks furiously, knocking him back. Ryuu rushes over to her side, stepping in between Ivy and Lily and a group of about three or four men. “Get back!” Ryuu snarls.

A large, burly man jumps forward, grabbing both of Ryuu’s wrists, holding him back. Ryuu curses loudly, struggling to throw the huge man off of him.

“Get away from him!” Ayame yells, dashing forth. In a flash and a burst of light, the large man falls to his knees, gripping his stomach, where a large, yet shallow gash has appeared.

There is a large outcry of astonishment from the rest of the men. They step back, now fully aware of the power of their opponents.

“You damn whore!” the large man cries angrily, nursing his wound with both hands, apparently unaware of the shallowness of the attack.

The other men draw back, but continue to shout vigorously as well. Suddenly, with a loud, leading cry, they begin hurling stones at the group, shouting angrily.

Ivy, Lily, Ayame, and Sasha automatically raise their arms to protect themselves, but Ryuu steps ruthlessly forward, and cutting the air with his sword, creates a large, explosive barrier of fire between himself and the men.

The stones immediately incinerate upon contact with the flare, falling limply to the ground like eggs, breaking apart on contact with the ground.

This is followed by another loud, astonished cry from the crowd of men. Ryuu snarls satisfactorily at the shocked expressions on the men standing before him. “Well,” Ryuu grins, “I think you’ve finally realized—”

“RUN!” one of the men shouts, and in a huddled panic, the men flee, running for their lives.

“What the hell—?” Ryuu cries, before a crushing explosion sounds behind him, knocking him several feet into the air. As Ryuu lands roughly on the grassy floor, he looks up, and sees a gigantic Paradox hovering over him, fangs bared.

Ivy and Lily cower underneath the large mouth of the Paradox, opened wide with fangs bared. The Paradox sneers happily at its prey, as Ayame and Sasha both jump to get out of its way.

“Run away!” Ryuu shouts to the two girls trapped underneath the hypnotizing stare of the Paradox. However, they continue to remain standing, their limbs trembling but unable to move.

Ryuu dashes forward, drawing his sword in the process and inflicting a large cut upon the chin of the Paradox. The Paradox suddenly rears its head back, crying in surprise at the unforeseen attack.

It suddenly turns and locks on to Ryuu, standing in between Lily and Ivy. “If you’re gonna attack them, you’ll have me to deal with first,” Ryuu growls to the Paradox.

The Paradox howls in response, and dives through the air with its mouth wide open, sinking towards the ground in an attempt to swallow Ryuu whole.

Ryuu leaps out of the way, fleeing as several evergreen trees growing nearby are uprooted entirely. The Paradox raises its head into the air again, the broken branches of the trees hanging from its open mouth. Meanwhile, the trunks of the tattered trees lie shredded on the ground under large mounds of raised dirt.

“This is insane!” Ryuu cries, “I’ve never seen a Paradox with this much physical strength before! It’s just having its way with us!”

“This way!” Sasha’s voice rises above the din, as she escorts both Lily and Ivy into the safety of a small grove of trees. Ayame pulls them under the cover, just as the Paradox now turns to round on Sasha.

“Sasha! Look out!” Ryuu shouts to Sasha’s turned back.

Sasha turns, and braces herself, as the Paradox lowers itself for another of its shoveling attacks. She grabs her Berzerker, and just as the Paradox’s wide open mouth reaches her, she stabs it right at the side of its face, with a fierce Buster move.

The Paradox rears again, as Ryuu takes the opportunity to leap onto its back and run up its scaly spine, stabbing it forcefully here and there with the tip of his blade.

The Paradox shudders, thrashing about wildly, trying to buck Ryuu off its back. Ryuu grabs hold of the Paradox, crying loudly in protest. However, as the Paradox calms down again, Ryuu leaps at the opportunity, swinging his sword right into the back of the Paradox’s head.

Ryuu is knocked off the Paradox from the recoil, and falls onto the ground heavily. He scrambles to his feet, watching as the Paradox loses control.

It falls onto the ground, and once again begins its shoveling attack, headed straight for Ryuu. “Ryuu!” Ayame cries, panicking. “He doesn’t have time to react!”

Ryuu attempts to flee, but the Paradox slams right into him, knocking him high into the air. Ayame jumps forward and catches Ryuu in both arms, before tumbling onto the ground herself from the impact.

“Someone has to stop the Paradox before it gets out of control!” Sasha cries, watching as Ayame makes the catch.

Suddenly a stream of golden arrows sails through the air, cutting into the scaly tissue of the Paradox. It howls again, shrieking in protest as it is forced to tumble onto the ground.

Another procession of arrows pierces its ugly face, as the Paradox crashes into the ground, creating a large shockwave on the ground as it falls. Suddenly, as the dirt thrown up into the air clears, the Paradox lays dead, its large body disintegrating into nothingness.

There is another large uproar from the village men, who’d been watching the entire battle. Ryuu, Ayame, Sasha, Ivy, and Lily turn to watch as a woman cloaked in gray appears, an exposed Asianic Bow in her hands. A silver chain attached to the bow tinkles softly as the woman lowers it.

“Who’s that?” Sasha wonders, awed at the sudden sight of this archer.

A tumult of surprise escapes from the lips of most of the men gathered about. They scramble out of the way as the woman approaches, bowing to her as they pass.

As the woman approaches the large man struck down by Ayame, he looks up, and hastens to scramble out of the way like his companions. “Please step aside, Jirgen,” the woman mutters.

“Ah!” the man named Jirgen cries, hastening to do so, “Y-Yes, my Lady!”

“Where is Tide? I assigned him to lead this station only yesterday, and he has gone and disappeared,” the Lady replies questioningly.

“Ah…m-my Lady, I know not about his current whereabouts,” Jirgen stutters.

The Lady sighs, shaking her head wearily. She then turns her attention to Ryuu, Ayame, Ivy, Lily, and Sasha. “I apologize for the actions of 4th Station today. It’s just that we’ve had several intrusions lately and security alert has been high. I, Lady Silver of the Rift World Uprising, apologize for their actions.”

Next Time: Episode 36 Assault: The First Clash of War

Ivy: So Silver’s alive!

Ryuu: I didn’t see that one coming.

Ayame/Sasha/Lily: Who’s Silver?

Ivy/Ryuu: …

Otis: War breaks out next time.

Episode 36 Assault: The First Clash of War coming soon!