Chapter 14
Revelations

	Ryu blinked. He opened his eyes and looked around. The Tribesmen had disappeared. The ground was normal, not the blood red stone of The World of Chaos. The Child of Darkness armed drooped at his side; he breathed heavily, blinking rapidly with his black eyes. Ryu's eyes themselves were red from his tears. He didn't understand what had happened. He kissed Irene on the forehead and rested his head on her breasts. 
	The boy walked very carefully over to his parents, each bare foot gently caressed the marble ground, each toe pressed down in a row. He said nothing. He put his small hand on his father's large shoulder. Ryu swayed his head and looked in hate at his demonic offspring; the Black Void showed no emotion. His son shifted his to the mother he murdered. He put his hand on her heart. A red heat came from his hand and Irene's body warmed up. The knife slash across her throat sealed up and Irene stirred. 

	"Nani..." Ryu said awed.
	"MMM... is that you, Ryu?"
	"Yes, yes." Ryu cried again. He looked up at his son. The Black Void was gone, and Ryu saw his own eyes in his son.
	"Doumoarigatou. Thank you."
	The reverie was interrupted by the sound of applause. "Bravo, bravi, bravissimi."
***
    
"Hello, Vega."
"Ryu, Irene, uh... Boy, hello." 
"Ryu, who is this?"
"His employer." Vega walked over to the boy. He sized him up. Looking unimpressed, Vega punched him in the abdomen.
"CRUNCH!!!"
"Damn." Vega removed the glove on his hand. He was bleeding badly, and his fingers were broken and beyond recognition. He looked at the boy then at his hand. He stretched out his snapped fingers and winced in pain. "Harder than diamonds," he said.
"Why did you DO that?"
"A test." Vega's hand suddenly looked normal. Healed.
"Who the hell are you," Ryu asked.
"It's amazing, what happens when rituals go bad. He IS invincible, invulnerable, but I don't know if IMMORTAL."
Ryu threw a shuriken at Vega. He caught it between his pointer and middle finger. "Don't kill me, Ryu, or you'll never learn what I know. Why did you do that?"
"A test. You're not from the government are you?"
"Sadly, no. I'm way beyond their league. Way beyond yours as well."
"You used me."
"Oh, Ryu, so foolish and naïve! Of course I used you. Although I didn't expect you to succeed."
"Huh?"
"Wow, you're dense. I was influencing the Tribesmen. I thought they were finally going to win the Earth, so I made it that if they had, I would be well rewarded."
"And you used me to make sure they didn't succeed."
"Standard policy, with both the CIA, the Tribesmen, and me. It called a contingency plan. And, for the record, I used all three of you."
"What!?"
"You were both under my influence when you sired your son, though you never met me."
"You bastard."
"Yeah."
"Why? Why me? Why use Ryu and my son?"
"Irene, you're a damn good operative. Ryu is the Ninja Dragon. You know the reason why the Hayabusas are so powerful?"
She shook her head.
"The Dragon Sword was forged from the Fang of the Dragon. When the Dragon died, its Spirit entered the sword, infusing the sword with its power. But also, the Dragon spilt its Spirit, equal to the original, that entered The Shinobi when he fought The Demon."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm not done. Since then, both Spirits inhabit a place. One in the sword and one in the descendants of The Shinobi; that's what gives the Hayabusas their superhuman powers. And here's the kicker: The Dragon Spirit split anew with every new Hayabusa child, growing stronger. The Dragon Spirits that inhabits the Dragon Sword and Ryu and his son's body are really thousands of years old, and are much more powerful than their were in The Shinobi's days."
"So our offspring would get the best of both worlds. Our superior genes along with The Dragon Spirit, which would make The Child of Darkness even more powerful, possibly unstoppable." Ryu interrupted.
"Exactly. Ashtar and I understood this well. That's why The Child could never be Xeviev's."
"Xeviev was your slave?"
"Good guess, but no. Never met the man, though I influenced him. I really thought The Child would do it, but I didn't know about that... thing Ryu did."
"The Art of Spiritual Healing."
"Well that's a neat trick."
"Give me one reason I shouldn't..."
"Because I wasn't the only one who used you."
"Who else?"
"You ARE foolish and naïve. Jaquio used you; Ashtar used you; Clancy used you; I used you. HELL, even Irene used you!!!"
"NANI!!!" Ryu turned to his love. 
"Do you think it's fate and she's ALWAYS the one who gets kidnapped? She's always worked with them closely, and the deal's always the same thing: deliver the Ninja, and you live."
"Is that true!?"
"No, no, no... I've died twice because of them..."
"But that didn't discourage you from selling your soul. Each time, they have become stronger, and you think that this next Ryu will lose."
"THAT'S NOT TRUE, DAMNIT!!!"
"Hey, I may be The Devil, but I speak a soothsayer."
"Fuck you! Irene, I don't care about him, just look me in the eyes and say it's not true."
Irene struggled against Ryu's firm grasp.
"Tell me it's not true, DAMNIT! Tell me!"
Irene looked into his eyes, but she couldn't say a word.
"Irene..." Ryu was shocked.
"I... love you... I always loved you... I'm sorry, I love..."
Ryu's large hand slapped Irene. She fell to the ground, a welt on her cheek. She reached her arms for him.
"Don't touch me," he said.
"Ryu..."
"Shut up." Ryu walked over to Vega. He grabbed the man by his collar and held him up in the air
"What the hell do you want from me? You failed to destroy the Earth."
"No I didn't, not yet. This plan just required minimal effort. I have much bigger plans for all of you."
"But I'm going to break your neck, right now."
"You will do no such thing," Vega said. And with that, he disappeared into thin air.