Ninja Gaiden III The Fury of the Dragon Written by Jeff Nussbaum deuce@scsn.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter Thirteen Light met Shadow. Flesh met stone. And the merging was a thing most foul and unholy. Deep inside Foster's inert body, there lay a hatred so powerful that death itself could not kill it. It was burning. It was old. And it would not be denied by the Reaper. Flesh expanded and grew, forming muscles, claws and teeth... forming an abomination of nature. All done in the deadest silence. Ryu was still looking into his son's eyes, tending to his wound. Suddenly, he saw those eyes go wide with fright, and felt his son's body go completely tense. "Son, what's wrong?" "D-dad...," stammered Ken, "B-behind you...." Setting his son down, Ryu turned around... and found himself staring into the jaws of Hell. Only a few feet behind him, there sat a huge, misshapen beast, with green, slimy skin. The gargantuan head a grotesque number of flat, pink eyes, and the mouth was large enough to swallow a man whole. It was also lined with dozens of razor-sharp teeth. Curiously enough, it had no arms or legs. The head sat perched atop a short neck, which was attached to a bulbous mass of the green flesh. The body was crisscrossed with brown-colored lines, and a split- second's observation revealed the lines to be tentacles of some sort. What in HELL had Foster been playing with? He looked at the very top of the head, and saw Foster... or at least, half of him. It was he, there was no mistaking that face. But he was embedded into the creature from the waist down. His naked upper body was in plain view, and his eyes glowed with a pale white light. The two Demon Statues were embedded into his shoulders, and he looked like some kind of demonic centaur. Blood flowed freely from the chest wound Ryu had inflicted on him only moments ago, but it was glowing like molten lava. The creature sat there, simply breathing, for a moment, then Foster spoke. "RYUUUUUUU!!!" he screamed, and his voice sounded hollow and grainy, as if he was speaking into an empty oil drum. Ryu's jaw went slack, practically unable to believe what he was seeing. Suddenly, he regained his senses, and dashed to the side, trying to get this monster away from his son. "Come on, Foster! It's me you want!" he called. His chest and shoulder were aching like he couldn't believe, but he was damned if he would be stopped now. But first and foremost, he had to protect his family. Foster almost seemed not to understand him, and looked at him uncomprehendingly. Evidently the transformation had damaged his mind in addition to altering his body. He turned his attention back to the prone Ken, and began to move forward. Ryu scowled, and tore the mask from his face. "Foster!!" he screamed. "Look at me!" Suddenly, Foster's face held the sign of recognition. "RYUUUU!!" he screamed again, and the giant head snaked forward to bite at the Ninja Dragon. Ryu dove to the side and rolled, and found several of the brown tentacles chasing after him. He was occupied for a few moments cutting them down as they approached, but they seemed to present no extreme danger. Foster's monstrous bulk lumbered around to face him once more. Sensing an opportunity to strike, Ryu drove the Dragon Sword deep into the slimy green flesh. A viscous, purple fluid came from the wound, accompanied by a foul, acrid smell. Ryu decided he'd seen enough supernatural creatures to last ten lifetimes. But with a loud kiai, he twisted the blade's edge upwards, and forced it up with all his strength. Foster howled in pain, and the tooth-lined maw screamed as well. Immediately, five more tentacles were brought to bear against the ninja, and swatted him away as if he were nothing more than a gnat. Ryu had only just barely managed to maintain his grip on the sword and pull it out. He landed a few yards away, every muscle in his body aching. Foster now had him in direct view, and the two statues embedded in his flesh were glowing. That couldn't be a good sign. Ryu scrambled to his feet, and half-ran, half-crawled out of the way of the attack which was sure to come. As if on cue, a blast of black energy shot from the creature's giant mouth. It narrowly missed Ryu, and blasted a great divot into the solid rock on which they stood. The ninja leapt into the air, and tossed a volley of three shuriken at Foster's human body. One of the stars hit its mark, landing very near the shoulder, where one of the statues lay. The other two hit the giant head, but seemed to cause no noticeable damage. But the first one had done its job. Foster screamed like the monster he was and clutched at the statue, as if he was afraid it would fall out. Perhaps Ryu had discovered his opponent's Achille's Hill... or shoulder, depending. But taking advantage of it would not be easy. Foster's eyes blazed brighter for a moment, and spat forth a small, but no doubt deadly, blast of reddish energy. In a panic, the Ninja Dragon cartwheeled off to the side, once again bringing the Dragon Sword to bear. Since getting close only seemed to invite abuse, he continued pelting the demonic entity with shuriken, but knew his supply was running low, and he was having a devil of a time maintaining accuracy. His body felt like it was on the verge of simply giving out. *** Unbeknownst to either of the combatants, Irene stirred to wakefulness nearby. She saw the huge creature that squared off against her husband, and then saw the humanoid form perched atop it... Foster. She'd know that grotesque face anywhere, no matter the distance. But what about Ken? He'd been shot. "Oh, dear Lord," she thought, "let him be alive... please don't take my baby from me." She felt certain that Ryu could handle himself for the time being, and she painfully dragged herself to her knees, scanning the area for Ken. After a short moment which felt like an eternity, she saw him, attempting to sit up, but not having much luck. But he was alive! She crawled over to him as quietly as she could, not wanting to distract Ryu from the obviously pressing matters of the fight. He looked back at her, his face full of both hope and worry. When she reached him, she threw her arms around him and held him tightly. "Ken... my baby... I thought I'd lost you," she said, tears streaming down her face. He returned her embrace gladly, but he was still fixated on watching his father, and felt galled by his inability to help... more than anything else, he wanted to be able to fight at his father's side. "Mom," he said, "Dad's in danger... can't we do anything to help?" Irene began looking around frantically. "Maybe... but not barehanded. Help me look." "For what?" *** Ryu was fighting for all he was worth, getting in his hits where he could, but it was not easy going. He had exhausted his supply of shuriken, and was forced to resort to calling on his spirit energy to be able to maintain an offensive. But the more he summoned the flames, the weaker he became... and if Foster did not die soon, Ryu felt certain that he would die himself. He hazarded an approach, and managed to cut a wide gash in the monster's side, but it was not a very deep wound. The opportunity gone, he hopped back to avoid the counterattack which would come in mere milliseconds. With a powerful kiai, he summoned the power of his ki once more, and a twirling pinwheel of fire flew out across the mountaintop. It smashed into Foster's monstrous body, leaving an intricate tracery of burn marks. Another scream emitted from the giant mouth, and the head snapped down at the ninja, who managed once again to dodge to the side. A tentacle lashed out at Ryu, but he cut it down easily. However, the arc of the slash left his back exposed, and another one of the slender appendages slammed into his back, right into a kidney, with the force of a freight train. He fell over, clutching at his back, still totally unaware of the actions of his wife and child. Foster let out a guttural roar, and his human eyes took on, if only for a brief moment, the light of human intelligence once more. "Ryu...," he said, "Now it is time for you to die...." Ryu was too exhausted to even utter words of defiance. This truly would be the end, it seemed.... The gaping, drooling mouth surged closer, and Ryu closed his eyes, fully prepared to meet his end. "Forgive me, Irene," he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. "I could not save you... I tried my hardest... but I wasn't good enough...." But the vicious rows of teeth did not tear his flesh. At the last possible instant, he heard the unmistakable crack of a gunshot. His eyes shot open, and he saw Foster clutching at his throat, seemingly unable to scream. Blood poured from the wound, and Ryu looked off to the side. Irene was holding a gun, pointed at Foster. "Ryu!!" she cried. His family was still alive. "Dad!" called Ken. He was still alive. "Do it now!" screamed Irene. "Now's your chance!" There was still hope. His family had not given up on him... how could he give up on them? His father's spirit was with him. Summoning the last of his reserves of strength, he took the Dragon Sword in his left hand, held it over his shoulder and behind his back, and leaped up to attack the staggering monster who had caused him so much pain. The familiar blue aura enshrouded him once more as he flew through the air. Foster gurgled through the hole in his neck, and held up his arms to ward off the oncoming attack, but Ryu would not be denied. He screamed, all of the anger and pain of the past flowing through him, through the sword. He brought the sword over his shoulder down at his enemy, the ancient blade ablaze with energy. It cut through the defending arm as if it were nothing more than a dry twig, and continued on. The severed limb fell to the side, bouncing off the rubbery flesh to the ground. The sword continued its journey. It bit deeply, from the left side of Foster's neck on, and severed the spinal column. Ryu landed firmly on the monster's head, and withdrew the Dragon Sword from Foster's human body, which somehow still lived. Ryu could abide this no longer... Foster was an inhuman creature, and he must die. "For everything you've done, to me, my family... you've made a mockery of life! You are DEAD!" he screamed, and spun the sword in his hand to make a stabbing motion. And his target was the Demon Statue embedded in Foster's left shoulder. The metal struck the black onyx of the Shadow statue, and plunged through. The energy coursing through the blade flowed into the unholy artifact, and the statue shattered. Ryu's aura faded at that moment. The world around the mountaintop went totally black, as the essence which the statue held was released. No light could penetrate the sphere of darkness... he could not see the glow of the Dragon Sword, nor that of the moon. And as quickly as it came, it was gone. The darkness dispersed into the air, and faded away. Foster screamed, one last, horrible scream... and went limp. His source of power and life was gone... he was dead. The other statue fell from its resting place in his other shoulder, and tumbled to the ground. The mammoth green body collapsed, and Ryu leaped off, his back to his family. He stood and stared as the green flesh dissolved away into a powdery mist, which blew away on the wind.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TO BE CONCLUDED ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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).