"Shin No Ippo 3" by Brandon ´Red´ Christ

Shin No Ippo III

Jay sunk into the shadows, leaning against the walls and slipping past the guards. Jay had chosen to sneak into the castle at dawn for a few reasons. One, the torches would be put out, meaning no light in the shadows. Two, there was just enough darkness to become invisible. Three, the guards would be tired. Even if he wore a white robe with a target on it, they would be too tired to see it from the night shift.

Jay slipped past the guards, making sure they weren’t looking in his direction, which wasn’t too hard since most were nodding off or looking outside. He made small marks on the walls, showing where to go and where not to. The castle was like a labyrinth to newcomers, and he couldn’t afford to get lost. When he finally got past the walls, turrets, and many barracks, he reached the actual palace.

It was a large, Japanese style palace. It was at least eight stories high, and about three city blocks wide. Jay stood in awe for a second and then dove into a bush, putting on a fancy Gi over his shinobi suit and filling a bag with sheets on a clothesline. Looking just like a worker, he carried the bag into the palace, and then began his search.

The palace was still dark inside, and Jay immediately smiled. There are barely any Guards, he thought, I was expecting more. He pulled off the Gi and shoved it into the bag, leaving it in a corner. He searched the first floor, and then continued to the next. He found many things, such as a sword room, a ballroom, a huge kitchen, and many other places. While searching, he accidentally stumbled upon the ladies room. Blushing, he ran to the top floor, realizing that the top floor would be home to any of the royalty. Once he found the correct floor, he began looking in the rooms. There were many, and most were empty. Then, a sudden thought scared Jay. Wait…what if he isn’t even here?! He thought, How do I know he’s here?! Then a calming force flowed over Jay. He’s here, Jay thought, The gods would not be so cruel to me. Then, Jay found the room.

The Prince’s room was large and spacious. The prince was still in bed, but barely sleeping. He had blond hair and brown eyes, and was looking out his bedside window. He was already dressed, but still lying on his bed. He was wearing a Long, white coat, a purple shirt, brown pants, and a purple beret with a yellow feather in it.

When Jay moved over to the bed, the Prince asked, "Owens, is that you?"

"Sorry kid, but I’m afraid not," Jay whispered, gagging the prince and binding his legs and arms.

"Mmmph!" the prince yelled into the thick, black cloth, trying to yell, "Owens!"

Jay sad, "I don’t like this any more than you do, your Highness." Jay lifted him up over his shoulder, threw a note on the bed, and slid outside.

A few moments after Jay slid out of the castle, a large man quietly entered the room. He was at least seven feet, and looked very strong. His dark skin and light armor shined in the sunlight.

He was carrying a tray with some food on it, and he began to say, " Prince Enrique, I brought you some breakfast…" But trailed off when he saw the Prince wasn’t there, and a note was on his bed. Probably went down to the pond, the big man thought. He opened the letter and read it.

Stefan,

If you are not at the old dojo in southern Kinomori by Three noon, I will kill the prince. Who I am, you will find out. Just bring your armor and your favorite weapons.

Owens stared at the note in shock for a moment and then went into pure rage. He ran down the hallway, crashing into his personal armory. He began strapping on his armor and then he picked up his axes. Each one had a handle about one foot long, and a blade three feet long. Each had one edge and was honed to razor sharpness. A short, one-foot chain attached Owens’s gauntlets, allowing him to run without holding the grand weapons. He slid down a steep slide on the top floor to the ground, and went crashing through the front gate. I will kill the damned fool who kidnapped the prince, he thought, crashing down the city streets, And then I will lash his head to the prince’s ship!

Jay began to change the bindings from the Enrique’s arms and legs to a chair connected to the floor out in front of the remnants of the dojo. He didn’t bind the prince’s arms, knowing he couldn’t reach the leg knots anyway. Mai gave him a warm drink, some rice balls, and a plate to eat it on.

"I’m sure you haven’t eaten yet," she said, not looking too happy, "I’m sorry, but this is our only option."

"For what, you kidnappers!?" Enrique yelled, anger taking over.

"Shut up, we aren’t going to kill you anyway, just get Stefan Angeles to come out," Jay said, changing his clothes behind a broken wall.

"Jay, don’t refer to royalty that way!" Mai exclaimed, eyes wide.

"I’ll refer to him any way I want, unless he can prove he’s different from Stefan. After all, from what I’ve seen, everyone with a fancy chair under their undeserving backside is corrupt," Jay continued, coming out from behind the wall and looking at Mai, "And besides, I doubt this snot-nosed brat has ever felt true pain like any of us. Royalty can have whatever they want, whenever they want. I’ve lost almost everything, your parents are dead, and Zordos doesn’t even know where he came from."

Enrique looked at Jay in wonder, and then asked, "So why did you want Stefan to come after me?"

"So I can kill the damned man and earn my friends, and families, revenge." Enrique asked what Jay meant, and Jay explained while Zordos projected Jay’s memories on a wall.

.  .  .

Enrique began, "But…Stefan may be cruel, but he wouldn’t…"

"He already has," Jay interrupted, cleaning the powder of his sword and unwrapping it, "And then he put a bounty on my head, making me look like the criminal."

Mai patted Enrique’s shoulder, saying, "I understand if you don’t believe us. After all, when I first met Jay, I was scared out of my wits."

"I…I believe you, Jay," Enrique said, astounding them all, "I can tell your telling the truth. No one would make up a story like that. And my father taught me how to read a person through their eyes. Yours are filled with pain, truth, and anger. But it’s hard to tell, because you hide it well."

"I couldn’t have put it better myself," Zordos said, facing the prince. Enrique studied the armor for a minute, and then asked, "How long have you had that armor?"

"Since I was a child, actually. It is blessed so that it grows with me," Zordos responded, interested in what the prince knew.

"Did you know you were from southern Silfortha?" The prince asked, pointing at the Insignia on the armor, "That is the insignia of the grand vampire, Nosferatu. Only royal families wear it."

 Zordos was astounded for a moment, and then asked, "Are you sure? The only life I remember was in the Dwarven caverns of Gargas…"

"It’s a possibility that Nosferatu employed the Dwarves to build some armor for him, but did not like the end result. He probably left it, and it reached to you somehow…" Enrique trailed off, all of them thinking that it was logical. Suddenly a clanking noise could be heard from the distance, and they all turned to see what it was.

Owens ran towards the dojo, armor clanking together. Although it was thick and looked a little cumbersome, he had it blessed by wind mages from the western Kitohasu area, which were mostly plains. Owens yelled, "Give my back the prince and I will spare you!"

"Who the hell is that?" Jay asked, wheeling around to look at Enrique.

"Owens, my personal guard. He must have found the note and came straight after me," Enrique said, looking down the field.

"Mai, put your pike to Enrique’s neck. Don’t touch him, though. I’ll try to get this Owens person to find Stefan," Jay said, drawing his sword.

He walked out, exclaiming, "Where’s Stefan Angeles?"

"That doesn’t matter. I’m going to crush you with or without him!" Owens exclaimed, gripping his axes as he began to charge. Jay gripped his sword with both hands, and prepared for impact.

It didn’t matter that Jay braced himself. He went sailing into the air from the sheer force of Owens’s blow, even though Jay deflected it. Jay landed on his feet, dashing towards Owens and taking a swing at him as he passed. Jay made barely a chip into it, and his hands hurt from the reverberation of the metal. God, Jay thought, His armor is strong and his blows are powerful! It’s a good thing he can’t turn, or move that fast…I’ll just stick to dodging until he gets tired, and look for a weak point in the meanwhile. Jay began to bob side to side, looking at the joints of the armor and other, thinner areas. It’s no good, Jay thought, if it doesn’t have a solid plate on it; it has two layers of chain mail! Suddenly, Jay was slammed from the side by the flat of Owens’s left axe. Jay crashed into the ground and rolled for about twenty feet, stopped by a rock. Jay tried to get up, but his left ankle was sprained and he had trouble standing on one in such pain.

Owens lifted the two axes above his head, saying, "Last chance, whoever you are Give back the prince or I’ll kill you."

"Not…until…I see…Stefan…dammit," Jay said through clenched teeth.

Owens said, "So goes it," and brought the axes down. Mai an Enrique gasped, Zordos’s eyes widened, and Jay’s eyes closed, realizing what he had to do.

"Majora Kerogara!!!"

The entire area went black. From a distance you would think a black orb had just appeared. All anyone could see were two silver lines in the darkness. The lines were where Owens had been, and they had about one foot between them. They were about three feet long. Then, the darkness disappeared. The two lines appeared on Owens’s armor, and his armor exploded into shards.

Owens yelled in pain as he went sailing backwards about fifty feet, slamming into the old Dojo’s wall. Jay sheathed his sword, and then limped across the field. Everyone stared in awe at Jay, trying to figure out what happened, but Jay and Owens knew.

Majora Kerogara is a powerful technique known to Jay only. Translated, it means Dark Moon. By creating a sphere of darkness, Jay is able to unleash two powerful blows onto his enemy without his opponent fighting back. The sheer destructive power is amazing. However, the user only has a few minutes before they become unconscious.

When Jay got over to Owens, he drew his sword and pointed it at him. Owens said, "Well, what’re you waiting for? Kill me…" but Owens didn’t have the time to finish, because Jay punched him across the face.

"If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already," Jay said, obviously annoyed by Owens, "After all, I put about one foot between the strikes. Be grateful."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Owens asked, eyes wide.

"Majora Kerogara is meant to strike twice in the same place, crushing the armor and splitting the target in half. You are not a servant of Stefan, and Enrique likes you, so I won’t kill you." They stood in silence for a moment, and then Jay told his story.

They had all sat down inside the ruins, and Jay was cooking some meat. Mai had been bandaging the two, and said, "You know, Jay, this all could have been avoided if you just explained your intentions."

Jay’s closed eyes snapped wide, and he stammered, "Sh…Shut up…" Everyone laughed except Jay, who hung his head low in shame. Owens left for a minute and then came back with all sorts of fine drinks. They had fun the entire night, enjoying themselves.

Owens and Enrique headed back to the palace. Jay, Enrique, and Owens had decided that morning that Owens would join Jay. He would tell Stefan that he was going after Jay, and would take his armor and weapons. Enrique would keep the facts quiet until he was told to tell the king about it all. In the meanwhile, he was to learn what he could about Stefan. Any new information would be sent through a telepathic link through Zordos.

When Owens returned with Enrique, Owens immediately contacted Stefan. "As you can see, I want to go after Crazy Jay," Owens began.

"Do as you wish, soldier. We will refill your position immediately," Stefan said, His silver armor shining in the moonlight, "Do you want any troops?"

"No sir," Owns began, "One armor clad warrior with no markings is less obvious than a thick armor knight and five or more troops with markings and a flag."

"Good point, soldier. You’ll make a good General someday. Maybe even take my job when I’m gone," Stefan said, thinking, not that that will ever happen. Owens left the room, and a shadowy figure appeared in the corner.

"Are you ready to sign the Fell Contract?" it asked, taking out a piece of black paper with red writing on it. Stefan took out a red vial and a needle and said,

"Yes. I finally have enough of my blood to write my name." The Paper read:

Terms of the Fell Contract

Term one: The Fell Contract, when signed, must be signed with the Signer’s blood. If not, the signer will die immediately and will be cursed to eternal hellfire.

Term two: The Fell Contract states that whoever’s name is placed under the Signer’s will be the Target until the Target is killed or the Killer fails.

Term three: If the Killer fails, the Killer will serve the target until told otherwise.

Term four: All information about the Fell Contract, including its existence, the Killer’s name, the Signer’s name, and the Target’s name are undisclosed information unless the Killer fails to kill the Target.

Term five: If any terms are broken, the term breaker will die from the contracts power.

Stefan signed the paper, and it began to glow a red color. The Terms wrote themselves onto Stefan’s lower right arm. "You do understand the terms?" It asked.

"Of course I do," Stefan answered. "Then write the target’s name, and let the pact be sealed."

Stefan smiled. It was a smile when one feels he has won. He chuckled as he wrote down the target’s name.

Jay