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Swords to the Wind

An Anthracite City Story

By Psion

_ It has been several months since the fall of Sentinel City and the portal storm consumed the planet. Alien marauders swarmed through the resulting rips in space-time, each invader possessing powers beyond the mortal kell. But humanity is not easily crushed; against all odds, people find ways to take the fight back to the enemy. Hundreds of mercenaries swarmed to help the Masterminds, each one presumably thinking that a land without any champions of its own would be easy to plunder. They could not have been more wrong..._

Somewhere on Kyushu, Japan

No one paid the stranger any mind as he walked into the sleepy village largely untouched by the devastation that consumed the rest of Japan, they were too busy running from the gang of Yamaha bikers to notice one unremarkable young man in a ratty school uniform. No one had the time to give him a second look, not until he decided to bring attention to himself...

Using the fleeing crowd as cover, he slipped into a small restaurant, the only real gathering place in the village, and pocketed several knives from the kitchen before sneaking out back and climbing onto the roof of the building. In the street below, the gang leader smiled as he order his minions to begin looting the village. As his hand fell to point out the first home the bikers were going to tear up, a knife handle grew out of his forearm.

Howling in pain, the bandit collapsed to the ground as his men took cover and nervously cradled stolen JDF weaponry, trying to desperately spot the knife thrower. Their leader was not much longer for this world, but there was no time to fight over succession rights when the enemy was still unseen and likely carrying more blades.

Still hiding on the roof of the building, the hidden warrior balanced another knife in his hand and waited for the next opportunity to present itself. The bikers still outnumbered him four to one, not good odds if he wanted to conserve his strength. No, he would at least have to knock out two more like this before things began to approach even. For not the first time, the stranger wished he knew how to build or find a crossbow and a reasonable supply of bolts; such a weapon would remain silent and significantly more accurate then a knife toss.

A blast of obnoxious music brought him out of his thoughts and turned his attention to a spectacle further down the road. The remaining bandits stopped their search for the hidden ninja to look at the stranger arriving on the most gaudy motorcycle any of them had ever seen, a conveyance that looked like it was taken straight from the set of a Super Sentai television show.

Oh no... not him. The shinobi on the roof winced, knowing full well who was on that bike.

Stepping off his vehicle and walking towards the bandits, projecting an alien air of perfect calm, a figure dressed in a flamboyant red and black jumpsuit slowly cracked his knuckles. His face was obscured by a jet-black visor that went down to the bridge of his nose, an ornate triangular respirator jutting out a few inches from his face covered where his mouth and nose would be. The whole ensemble resembled a mad cross between a Kamen Rider costume and a jet fighter's uniform.

"Greetings simpletons, remove your hands from MY plunder... right now." The newcomer challenged in fluent Japanese while performing a series of complex hand motions that vaguely resembled a martial art kata.

The motorcycle gang members looked at each other. Demonstrating an amount of strength the warrior on the roof did not expect his victim to have, the gang leader deftly pulled the knife out of his arm and pointed at the outlandish warrior. "GET THAT FREAK!" He screamed while feebly struggling to stop his arm from bleeding out.

The other thugs revved their motorcycles and charged the newcomer. With an exaggerated pose, the alien sentai suddenly became seven separate warriors; each dressed in a flashy uniform dyed in the colors of a traditional sentai force. The unseen ronin knew how the fight was going to end before it began. While comically boisterous, the Dark Sentai and his clone warriors were still extremely well disciplined. An assortment of petty thugs who thought they were hotshot Yakuza enforcers was no match for something like this.

Jousting bikers were dismounted by flying kicks and outlandish acrobatics. The wayward ninja blinked when he saw a pink sentai single out her target, leap up onto his bike's headlamp, and dislodged the ganger off his own bike with one delicate flick of her ankle. Within seconds it was over, the thugs were beaten within an inch of their lives and their bikes had been turned into some of the world's largest paperweights. All that remained was for the victor to collect his spoils

The Dark Sentai laughed as he called his clones back together and walked towards the bleeding leader. "Now that trivial business is done with, would you mind telling me which houses to start robbing?" He asked the defeated bandit with a causal arrogance.

"You will do no such thing." A voice called out from above a small ramen shop.

The Magnificent Champion of Darkness cocked an eyebrow behind his visor as he watched the human effortlessly leap down from his rooftop hiding-place. While still not fully used to the sight of these strange furless primates he must admit he knew just from looking there was something different about the one standing in front of him.

His appearance didn't seem too different from what the vulpine sentai assumed was the normal ethnicity for this world's version of Japan; yellowish-brown skin lightly tanned and dirt-streaked from lots of physical activity thanks to the collapse of civilization, jet black hair appearing like it was kept short until recently and a black goatee that was little more then stubble, deep brown eyes burned with a righteous fire as he regarded the sentai warriors with a sneering gaze. Not particularly old either, the Dark Sentai guessed the challenger wasn't much older then he was. If anything the human looked barely old enough to be considered a man.

The stranger wore a tattered public school uniform, a pair of jet-black dress pants and buttoned shirt that looked like it had once been magnificent. Peaking over his shoulder was the familiar hilt of a katana while a set of throwing knives similar to the one that the bandit pulled out of his arm was strapped to his belt. Almost immediately the gang leader began spewing curses at the man who ruined his arm.

The human warrior regarded his first opponent coldly before drawing a second knife and sending it plunging deep into his opponent's head with a sickening thunk. The leader of the motorcycle gang was dead before he could hit the ground. The mysterious stranger then regarded his other opponents. "I am not so blind as to think my victory is certain so could you honor me one question about your abilities?" The black-haired ninja asked idly.

Always eager to boast, the Dark Sentai nodded briskly. "What do you wish to know about my infinite powers?"

"If these are all merely clones of yourself." He began, regarding the other costumed fighters with a glance before staring down the pink and yellow rangers. "Then why are two of them female?"

"Ummm... well, a true sentai team needs to at least have a pink female don't you agree?"

"Perhaps, though one would think it a sign that you are truly in love with yourself." The human cackled as he drew his katana.

It took the fox anthromorph a moment to realize what his opponent was hinting at. "Are you implying I use these powers to have sex with myself?"

The swordsman smiled as he tightened his grip and took up a fighting stance. "Perhaps, perhaps, you certainly seem to be one that would have difficulty satisfying a proper Japanese woman."

With a growl, the vulpine sentai ordered his cohorts to form up and charge. The human inhaled slowly and swung, three-hundred-year-old tempered steel biting into the thigh of the approaching blue sentai. The blade found no resistance as it cut through and separated the fox clone from his leg, drenching the sword in blood before the wounded martial artist disappeared into a puff of smoke.

The wayward warrior didn't have time to puzzle this mystery though, as the black, yellow, and green fighters all attacked at once, a flurry of blows connecting with his torso and face. As his body vibrated like a rag doll, the black sentai unleashed a flying kick and sent the human sailing backwards. Landing with a thud and his sword clattering out of reach, the stranger groaned and stood up.

The Dark Sentai charged, his pink clone hanging back and channeling energy into a magnificent bow while the others joined him, but then the modern ronin did something most unexpected. Pressing his hands together and closing his eyes, the human warrior was suddenly wreathed in a blinding bluish-white energy. A sudden blast of air knocked his opponents off their feet as he tensed up and regarded his opponents with eyes radiating a wispy half-light.

Taken aback, the anthromorph raised a frightened finger at his foe. "This is... this is impossible. I was told that none of you could even dream of having the power to challenge me."

The human smiled. "Your masters lied, I'll give you a few seconds for that to sink in." He cackled before launching his counter-attack.

With his arms radiating unknown energy, the ninja struck out. First came the black sentai. Slamming his hand into the clone's visor open-palmed, he shattered the tinted glass and caved the fox's face in. The Dark Sentai staggered backwards as his clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing but the blood drenched on the human's hand behind.

Next came the yellow, pink, and green sentai. The feminine pink fired bolts of energy from her bow to no effect, the projectiles dissipating once they connected with the ronin's aura. With a display that reminded the anthromorph of his archenemies the Rainbow Sentinels, the human cupped his hands together and fired a ball of pure charka that incinerated the vixen archer instantly and burnt the Dark Sentai's chest. Yellow and green were taken out shortly afterwards, green was sent flying into a wrecked car with a roundhouse kick that collapsed his lower abdomen while yellow was defeated with a trio of swift chops, one that shattered each shoulder with a sickening crack before followed by one that collapsed her helmet's visor in on itself.

As the last of the clones disappeared in puffs of smoke, the Dark Sentai gasped for breath. While few here had fought well enough to discover his weakness, he did suffer some biokinetic feedback whenever any of his duplicates were killed. And right now he had two sore shoulders, a magnificent bruise on his face, first-degree burns, a gash on his left hip, and a few cracked ribs making him grateful that rapid healing was another one of his powers.

Ignoring the pain in his leg long enough to climb back onto his bike and start the ignition, he turned his head expecting the human to try landing a killing blow. Instead his foe's power had seemingly dissipated and the stranger was on one knee, coughing blood. A better opportunity could not be had...

Sharp pains in the Dark Sentai's chest reminded him of how badly he had already underestimated the human. A better opportunity would have to come another time; rest assured his opponent had not heard the last of the Magnificent Champion of Darkness...

A slight smile crossed the stranger's lips as he watched the villainous sentai ride off on his motorcycle. Despite having to tap into the power that threatened to destroy him, he had won. He had stood against these alien oni and emerged victorious. As his breath eased into a slow, laborious pant, his smile grew into a broad, cocky grin. He had fought and seen for himself that these beasts plaguing his homeland were not immortal.

Standing up, the wayward warrior picked up his sword and wiped the blood from the blade. As the villagers watched from behind locked doors and shuttered windows, he stopped only long enough to pick up a loaf of bread and leave a handful of coins at the counter before moving on. The legend of Kenchi, last of the Bito ninja clan, was born....