Chapter 13
The End of the Earth

	Ryu fought his with all his soul to move, even just one inch, but he could not. He hatred of Xaviev and the Tribesmen increased each second of his struggle. Ryu's body began to glow with a blue aura as the Spirit of the Dragon awoke inside of him, yet even its power failed to overcome Xaviev's glare spell. 

	Then the aura disappeared.
	
	Ryu suddenly realized the horrible irony of the situation. His entire clan's destiny from the beginning of their existence was to stop the forces of darkness from destroying the Earth. They had always succeeded, and Ryu himself had stopped the evil thrice before. Now, his own son, the next Ninja Dragon, would kill everything on Earth, and Ryu was utterly helpless to stop him, a mere onlooker.
	Xaviev strolled to the basin where the clear water was flowing and put the baby boy in. From the demon's mouthpiece at the top, the water changed to the blue-white goo from the Maze of Darkness. It poured like glue over the baby's head, who felt something change inside of him. He stared at his hand. It grew bigger, and so did the rest of his body; it grew past the size of the large basin. He stood up awkwardly for the first time. 
	A normal person might have taken a look at the boy and imagined him to be of the age of seven or so; however, all at the ritual knew better. The sky turned to midnight. The sun disappeared altogether, and the Black Moon hung in the sky. Xaviev knelled to his savior and placed a long knife in the boy's hands, and pointed to Irene. Both knew what came next.
	The Tribesmen quickly flipped Irene on her stomach, resting her neck on a shallow trough, her head glanced up at her approaching son. With his smooth light skin and black bowl hair, he looked exactly like Ryu when he was a child. He stared at Irene with no emotion in his eyes. No love, no pity, no remorse. Irene was reduced to nothing, just repeating, "Oh God, oh God..." 

	Then the boy slit his mother's throat.

	"IRENE!!!" Ryu screamed out, but Xaviev silenced him. The blood flowed like wine pouring from a bottle; it gathered in a small chalice at the base of the altar. A Tribesman lifted the boy in his arms and gentled placed him on the second altar, while four others each fastened an appendage. Xaviev raised the chalice, as if to God, and dribbled the blood everywhere on the boy's body.

	It was if an earthquake had suddenly occurred. The ground rocked and huge crevices opened throughout the temple. The boy himself convoluted himself violently, black electricity permeated his body, and his eyes become pure black, The Void. A blue aura surrounded his body, and with a huge explosion, the four Tribesmen vaporized. 
	Ryu fell over. The transformation had surprised Xaviev himself; Ryu was free. The Ninja Dragon summoned his power, and seemingly disappeared into thin air. The blade from the Dragon Sword sliced cleanly through Xaviev's arm; Ryu even saw the blade's slashing trail as he turned around. Xaviev fell down. Ryu concentrated on the panicking Tribesmen; one of the statues of the Demon fell, killing many. Clearly they had not expected the ritual to be so powerful. Ryu eliminated many from afar with various Ninja Arts. The others scrambled around mindlessly, no longer a threat. He rushed over to Irene and felt for her pulse. 

	Irene was dead. 
	
	Ryu snapped his head to The Child. 
Ryu and The Child of Darkness locked their eyes at each other. Neither moved. Xaviev staggered up weakly, The Child's energy had nullified his own powers; he could not repair his body. Ryu's eyes shot over to the helplessly wizard approaching. Xaviev yelled in pain, everything below his right shoulder was gone, and he bled profusely. Ryu relocked his eyes on The Child. Xaviev attempted to speak slowly, "It doesn't matter if you kill me, Ninja... You cannot harm The Child's invincible body... He... he will open the Gate. The Emperor will come, and he will kill you."
"The Emperor, do you mean Ashtar?" Ryu asked the question with no surprise. "Yes, uhh... you will DIE, Ninja. My master shall revive me."
	"Well, Ashtar is alive, big surprise there," Ryu continued his silent war with The Child. The Child dropped his mouth, revealing four large, black fangs. He hissed at his father. Ryu knew that if The Child had ever once been human, he certainly wasn't anymore. The Child of Darkness black eyes grew in intensity; he was charging up energy to kill... 
"You see, Ninja... He opens the Gate with the soul of The Ape...You die now!"
	Ryu's sakki detected no immediate danger to him from the Child. He smiled. He addressed the dying wizard, "He will open the Gate with a soul, but not mine."
	"What!?"

	A large blast of black energy shot from The Child's eyes. Ryu never flinched as it transversed past to the side of him. The beam struck ripped through Xaviev's chest. "MASTER, YOU PROMISED ME!!!" The wizard's eyes glowed, his body vanished, and his soul flew high overhead in the sky. 
	The Child moved his arms and hands to the soul in mid-air. The intense power he possessed went to the soul of Xaviev. The sky became a blue-black center of energy; The gate was growing, and Earth and The World of Chaos were soon to become one.
Ryu summoned The Art of the Fire Wheel; however, the flames parted around The Child like the sea for Moses. Ryu punched him three times then kicked The Child in the face, but it didn't faze him at all. Ryu could tell that his attacks were a joke to him, but if one weapon could hurt him, it would be the Dragon Sword. Ryu ripped the sword out of the scabbard on his back and slashed downward from The Child's right to left. The blade passed through him as if thin air. Ryu tried again from the other side. Same results. The Child was not amused. An invisible force slung Ryu back ten feet; he landed on his back. Hurt, Ryu nevertheless stood up. He put the Dragon Sword to his brow and focused his energy, but he was not going to attack.
	Traditionally, Ninjas did not know of or learned advanced healing spells. Ryu himself had never studied The Art of Spiritual Healing, but he trusted what his instincts told him, perhaps it was the Dragon inside him. "Please, Kami No Ryu, lend me your strength," the Ninja said. Ryu fell deep into a trance. The Dragon inside his sword and The Dragon in his body merged. Ryu could feel himself and the Spirit enter The Child's body. It was dark, and they were blinded by the lack of light, but they went to the sense of the evil ki. It was another Spirit of the Dragon, but the forces of Chaos had corrupted it. The two fought in an intense battle. Each increased their power as they struggled, their bodies intertwined. Both fired energy from their mouths, and...

	Ryu found himself thrown out of The Child's body. The Dragons spilt into two and each Spirit returned to their sanctuary. Ryu looked at The Child; its eyes were still the Black Void, and the energy grew larger in the sky. Ryu had failed.
He walked to Irene's lifeless body, and held it in his arms and cried. 

	"If the Earth and I die, I want to die with you in my hands."

	The Gate was ready to open; the change would be instantaneous. A few of the Tribesmen regained their sanity and bowed down to worship The Child. The Bringer of Chaos himself started to move his arms downward straining vigorously as if the was tossing the largest weight. The Light blinded all. 
	
	And then silence.