Ninja Gaiden III The Fury of the Dragon Written by Jeff Nussbaum deuce@scsn.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter One It was a late evening in the year 1990. All was quiet, and only two figures disturbed the evening calm. A man and a woman who had faced and survived some of the most surreal events they would ever witness. The man was Ryu Hayabusa, also known as the Ninja Dragon. The woman who stood close at his side was Irene Lew, the CIA agent whom Ryu had met just over a year ago. In the short time they had known each other, the two had grown quite close. Catastrophe tends to do that to people. She turned to him and smiled gently. "This is getting to be something of a habit, don't you think?" she asked. He looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?" "Well," she said, "you seem to have a knack for leaving an unmistakable mark of your presence. That's two of these temples now destroyed, thanks to you." He smiled a bitter smile, remembering what had led him to this moment in time. "I suppose so," he said, reflecting back on what had just transpired only scant hours ago. He had faced off Ashtar, the damnable sorceror who had thrown his world into utter chaos. He discovered that Jaquio, the man who murdered his father, had lived again. Through some miracle, Ryu had managed to defeat him once more. It had seemed a hollow victory at the time. With the defeat of Jaquio and the closing of the Gate of Darkness, Irene had lost her life. But through some quirk of fate, and perhaps some divine intervention, the Dragon Sword sacrificed itself to restore her. She lived yet again. But Ryu was disquieted. With the loss of the Dragon Sword, he had lost the only link he had to his late father. So Irene's return had been a bittersweet event. He was no longer alone, but he somehow felt isolated. Irene looked at him, her smile fading. "Ryu... what's wrong?" Ryu shrugged. "Just thinking about my father," he said. She sighed. "And about the sword?" "Maybe." Her face fell. "So you'd rather have the sword than me?" Ryu turned to face her, shocked. "Irene...," he began. She turned away. "That's not true. It's just that... it was the only link I had left to my father." He was doubly shocked when he saw tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. He put his arms gently around her, and she embraced him tightly. "I must sound like a real bastard." She laughed and sobbed at the same time. "Maybe a little." He turned her face up to meet his gaze, and kissed her softly. She returned the kiss, and the two remained motionless for a long while. When they finally broke apart, he smiled at her. "I love you, Irene." She blinked, as if unsure of what she had just heard. "You know," she said, "That's the first time you've ever told me that." "It's not the first time I've felt it." She smiled, "I love you too, Ryu." Ryu hugged her close once more, and then looked around. "Now... what would you say about going home?" "I'd say lead the way, boy." *** Ryu took her by the hand, and led her back up the pathway leading to the front gate of the now-destroyed temple. As they neared the shattered doorway, Irene asked why they were heading back toward the temple, instead of away from it. Ryu explained that he had seen portals leading back to the Maze of Darkness, and he wanted to see if any of them were still active. Irene stepped away from Ryu a moment, and walked over to inspect the doorway. "I still can't believe you fought through all of this." She touched the brittle rock near the doorway. "Neither can I, sometimes," he replied. "Just be careful what you touch... this place is hardly what I'd call stable." As if on cue, the doorway nearly collapsed on Irene just as Ryu was finishing his sentence. "IRENE!" he screamed. She just managed to back away as the rocks fell, and get out of danger. He ran over to check on her. When he was satisfied that she was unhurt, he inspected the opening. Interestingly enough, the entryway was relatively undamaged. "Hey Irene, look at this... this where I fought those Kelbeross creatures." She peered into the room. "It stinks," she said simply. "Just be glad you couldn't smell them when they were alive," he replied, and smiled. "Come on, let's go check inside." She was a bit reluctant, but agreed. Inside, the smell was worse. It was also incredibly dark, and Ryu was reluctant to go inside, for fear of himself or Irene tripping. He closed his eyes in concentration, and summoned his ki to provide him with light. He noticed almost immediately how much more difficult it was without the sword. It had provided him with a focus point. A moment later, a ball of flame burst into being in Ryu's hand. "Let's make this quick... I can't keep this lit forever," he said. The bodies of the two Kelbeross creatures lay on the floor, inert. "Good riddance to bad rubbish," said Ryu, kicking at one of the bodies. "I don't care if I never see these things again." Irene stood, practically gaping at the sheer size of the creatures. "You actually FOUGHT these things?" Ryu nodded. "I have to say, I'm utterly amazed." Ryu was only halfway paying attention, his fingers deftly scanning the wall for telltale cracks. After a moment, he found what he was searching for. "A hidden passage," he said, prying at the opening. "Give me a hand, would you?" She came over to help, and a moment later, the secret door swung open. Beyond the door stood a small, shimmering portal of energy. Its energy flickered, as the source of power which fed had been cut off. It would not last much longer. "This is our best bet," said Ryu. Irene looked at it skeptically. "Yeah, it's long odds," said Ryu, "but long odds are better than no odds. And no odds are precisely what we have if we don't get back into the Maze before the power is shut down completely." Irene reluctantly conceded the point. And so, with no time to waste, they stepped through, gripping each other's hand tightly. *** Darkness... all was darkness. It was cold, so very very cold. In this darkness, Ryu felt alone, more alone than he had ever dreamed possible. The world was gone, and only he was left. His father was dead... Ashtar was dead... Jaquio was dead... and Irene? Was she dead too? Had everything indeed been taken from him? "Ryu..." came a voice. He was curled into a fetal ball, simply floating in the limitless blackness. The voice seemed to have no source. Nothing made sense in this lightless world. If he was the only one left, then who could be calling his name? If only Irene were here with him... "Ryu!" came the voice again. "Ryu, come back to me... Damn it, I'm not going to lose you now!" Suddenly, the ninja recovered his wits, and reached for his sword, forgetting that it was no longer there... but it was. And when he drew it, it shone brighter than the sun, with a pure, white light. And the light blasted back the darkness, revealing... Irene sat hunched over Ryu's curled up, half-unconscious body. She was nearly in tears. "Ryu..." she said over and over again. He reached up and grasped her hand gently, but firmly. "Irene?" he said. "I'm here... it's okay..." He wasn't alone. She was with him. But the cold continued unabated. When he sat up and looked around, he found he recognized the place. It was a craggy, mountainous region. Ryu remembered fighting his way through it on his way to the Tower of Lahja. This also explained the cold. The bitter wind cut into their flesh, despite the shelter of the cave into which Irene had apparently dragged him. She hugged him tightly. "I'm glad you're all right... after we came out of the portal, you just collapsed." Ryu sat up. "I don't know what happened... I had a really strange dream or something." "Well, you can tell me when we get home. Where are we?" Ryu smiled at her. "It seems, dear lady, that by some stroke of good fortune, we're not very far from home. The portal must have let us bypass the maze." She looked around. The notion of journeying around outside was not an appealing one. "Well, we're not going anywhere for awhile. We'd freeze in no time." She nestled close to him for warmth. Ryu figured they could stay there for the night, and said so. As Irene tried to find a flat area of the cave that was less uncomfortable than the many other flat areas of the cave, Ryu set to work building a fire. A short while later, the two were huddled close together, warming their hands at the small fire Ryu had made. It wasn't much to speak of, but it would keep them alive. "Don't ever say I never take you anywhere," said the young ninja, smiling at her. She elbowed him playfully in the ribs. "Hush, you. I'm going to spend a week under a blanket after this." "Sounds like a plan to me." The two smiled and kissed each other softly, taking what comfort they could from each other's presence. As they laughed and joked, the fierce trials and battles of the previous day faded into the recesses of memory. Perhaps, finally... they could live in peace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TO BE CONTINUED ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ninja Gaiden, Ryu Hayabusa, Irene Lew and all characters are the sole copyright of Tecmo. This document is meant for public distribution in its ORIGINAL FORM ONLY, and should not be sold at any price. All events portrayed in this story are the inventions of Deuce, and do not reflect the "proper" story as shown by Tecmo (even though Tecmo screwed the pooch on the NG3 story).