Chapter Twenty: The Rebirth of The Cosmos Armor and The Death of Evil

    Ryo dodged again and again but the onslaught of Talpa's attacks kept coming. He tried to call upon the Inferno's powers, but was too weak to complete it. Besides that, Talpa refused to give him enough time to catch his breath. His actions and reflexes were getting sloppy. Without warning, Talpa slashed sideways at him, hitting him in the side and sending him flying off the roof. He landed hard on the ground. He tried to get up, but was filled with too much pain. Talpa stuck out his hand and extended his pointer and middle finger, forming a V. Ryo's body was surrounded by a red glow and it lifted off the ground. He started floating toward Talpa. I'm sorry, my friends, I've failed you yet again.

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     Scarbna laughed wickedly as my body floated closer and closer to her. I closed my eyes and the sign for love appeared on my forehead. I stopped in midair and started floating away from Scarbna.

    "What? How dare you resist me!"

     "How? Because I held love in my heart and you've taken that love away from me," I said as I touched the ground. I continued to speak, my voice raising in volume and its tone getting angrier and stronger.

    "You killed my mother, my family, all of my family. Now you try to take away my friends and your husband tries to take my brother. We need harmony, creativity, knowledge and hope in our hearts! And they have to mix with love to become whole! Now, my friends, I call on your power to help me defeat this evil! I won't let you die!" With that, my armor began to glow and Scarbna's body flashed red, blue, and orange. One by one, a beam of light zoomed from Scarbna's body and hit me. Red, dark blue, orange, and light blue.

     "Armor of the Cosmos!" I shouted. I shed my Armor of Psyche and looked up. A lone silver star loomed, shooting down sparks of silver light. My sub armor went from white and purple to black. Two sparks landed on my hands and arms, with were instantly covered by silver arm guards and hand coverings. The star that was above me fell to the ground and spiraled up around me. My feet and shins were cover with silver armor. A silver belt, that went around my waist, was connected to three sheets of metal, one resting on each thigh and one for the rear. My body was covered in skin tight silver armor. On my shoulders were two small shoulder covers. As the star zoomed around my head, my long black hair was pulled back in a high pony tail. The star rested on silver band that held my hair. On my forehead, a silver tiara appeared. On the center of the tiara, was a stone as black as the night sky. I opened my eyes and checked myself out. I reached for my swords and found open air. I glanced over my shoulder nervously as I saw no swords.

     "Hahahahaha!!! You haven't found the secret to the Cosmos swords, have you? And now you are defenseless!" said Scarbna evilly and mockingly. I glared at her angrily. I turned at the sound of a shrill neigh. Starlight was galloping toward me.

    "Starlight!" I yelled happily.

     "Stupid unicorn, you show up now, when I don't need you," said Scarbna in a bored tone. I gasped as I saw that as Starlight got closer, the stone on my tiara was glowing. When Starlight was close, a black beam shot out at her. I watched in shock as her body was completely covered in white armor. Her mane and tail went black as did her eyes. Her silver horn grew to about a foot long. On each side of her neck were two black sheaths. In them were two swords. The hilts looked exactly like the Soul Swords of Fervor except where the Soul Swords were red, it was black. And where the Soul Swords were yellow, it was silver. I grasped them and twirled them in my hands as I got them into a comfortable position. I was about to strike, when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Ryo floating to Talpa. Instantly, I flipped onto Starlight, and sheathed my swords. I put her into a gallop and noticed how much faster she ran in this armor.

     "Hold on, Ryo!" I said as we approached Talpa. I jumped off of Starlight and went to Ryo. I grabbed him by the waist and pulled him out of Talpa's reach. I landed safely and laid him on the ground.

     "What? Crystal is that you?" asked Ryo, opening his eyes slightly.

     "Yep, it's only I, your little sister," I said with a twinkle in my eye. Ryo looked confused and I quickly gave him a summary of what happened to me. I turned at a shrieking sound. Talpa was absorbing Scarbna's armor. The process was killing her.

     "Why, Talpa?" she asked sadly.

     "Because I love power more than you, who have never made one decent attempt at anything and actually succeed," said Talpa coldly as he finished absorbing her. All that was left was a hump of scrap metal.

     "Makes you feel sorry for her, just a little," I said. Ryo smiled and sat up. He saw Starlight and White Blaze surrounded by Dynasty soldiers. I looked over there and said,

    "Ryo, they can take care of themselves. Form the Inferno Armor!"

     "I can't. I don't have enough power."

     "Yes you can. You remember when you first formed the Inferno, what did you say?"

    "I don't remember."

    "Something like having wisdom, justice, life force, and trust combined with virtue?"

     "Yes, I guess."

     "Ryo, believe in yourself. I do. I may have just found out that you and I are related, but I still believe in my big brother."

     "Ok. I won't give up. I'll try again. Thanks, sis," said Ryo, testing the words for the first time. It felt good to him. He closed his eyes and concentrated. I watched Talpa carefully as Ryo called on his friends' powers. Soon, his armor was glowing red and Talpa's body was flashing blue, orange, and green. One by one, a beam of light shot out and hit Ryo.

    "Armor of the Inferno, Tao Chi!" shouted Ryo as he shed his armor and was covered in the armor of Inferno. White Blaze jumped over and gave Ryo the Soul Swords of Fervor. Starlight jumped next to me and I drew out the Cosmos swords.

     "Ryo, one thing before we cream him," I said.

     "What?"

     "He killed mom."

     "What!"

     "Let's get him with a combo, shall we, bro?" I asked, eyeing him out of the corner of my eye.

     "You've got it, sis," said Ryo. We jumped into the air. Simultaneously, we executed the same sword movements.

     "Rage of Inferno!" shouted Ryo as a spiral of red fire shot at Talpa. The stone on my head glowed brightly as I shouted,

     "Rage of the Cosmos!" Silver energy shot out and spiraled around Ryo's attack. Talpa looked extremely worried and said,

     "Unsladuna!" Black energy surged at the silver and red energy. It clashed and it was an intense moment of tug of war. Black, silver, and red energy splashed from where the three awesome powers collided. It was tiring to just kept the energy going.

     "Ryo, he's too strong," I said through gritted teeth.

    "Keep going! We have to buy Kayura some time!" he said.

    "Why!?!" I yelled, before surging more energy into the attack. Before he could respond, Talpa's attack blasted through ours and slammed into us. We were blasted back onto the ground. Ryo was propping his body weight on his elbow as he looked at me with worry in his eyes.

     "Are you okay?"

     "Yeah. You?" I forced myself to sit up and I smiled weakly. I turned my head at the sound of footsteps and cracking cement. Talpa stood with his sword raised. Ryo got to his knees, but fell back to the ground, letting out a grunt.

     "Ryo!" I shouted, but my cry was overpowered by Talpa's booming voice.

     "Weak and foolish mortals. I shall crush you!" Talpa raised his foot and slammed it down on us. But it stopped a few feet above my head. I sat there with my fingertips touching each temple. A white barrier kept Talpa's foot from squashing us. But it was taking all my strength to keep it up. Talpa just laughed and waited patiently as my strength started to leave me. Hurry up Kayura, and do whatever it is that you're going to do! I can't keep this up much longer!

     Ryo watched as I was using up all my strength to keep both of us alive. He had to help, or it was all over. But, Ryo was too weak to do anything, so he did the next best thing. A long shrill whistle came out of his throat. Talpa turned to look at him, removing pressure from his foot. Two white beams of lightning shot out at his foot and Talpa fell backwards.

     "What's this?" asked Talpa astonishingly. I let go of the force field and collapsed to the ground. Starlight galloped over and lowered her head. I grabbed her mane and pulled myself up. Ryo was on White Blaze.

    "Cool trick," said Ryo.

     "Thanks, but I don't use it often, for obvious reasons," I said weakly. Most of my strength was gone, but I was still going.

     "Hurry up, Kayura," said Ryo in a near whisper. I heard him anyway.

     "What are we waiting for, anyway?" I asked.

     "I think we are about to see," said Ryo. I followed his gaze and saw Talpa, who was standing again, glowing various colors. Suddenly, a giant white ball of light exited him and landed in front of us. Kayura stood, in the Armor of Cruelty, holding the Ancient's staff. Behind her stood Sage, Rowen, Sai, Kento, Amy, Lita, Selene, Rose, Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet.

    "Now, Ronins! Let's finish him!" ordered Kayura.

    "Right!" we all yelled together. I jumped off of Starlight and prepared to use my sure kill.

     "Are you sure your body can handle this?" asked Ryo, looking worried.

    "This is no time for me to rest. I can handle it," I said sternly. The ball atop the Ancient's staff glowed and yellow light radiated from it. It gave the others the power to use their sure kill if their power was given to the Inferno or Cosmos armor.

     "Quake With Fear!"

     "Web of Deception!"

     "Black Lightning Slash!"

     "Snake Fang Strike!"

     "Rock Storm!"

     "Iron Rock Crusher!"

     "Tidal Typhoon!"

     "Super Wave Smasher!"

     "Reign of The Firebird!"

     "Thunder Bolt Cut!"

     "Reign of The Celestial Stars!"

    "Arrow Shock Wave!"

    "Rage of Inferno!"

     "Rage of The Cosmos!" All the attacks combined to form a massive bolt of white energy. Talpa took a step back.

     "How could they be so powerful? How did I underestimate them? Unsladuna!" yelled Talpa in defense. His black bolt of energy blasted at the white energy. It was easily overpowered and the white energy hit Talpa. It exploded in a burst of power. Winds picked up at a terrible speed. We stabbed our weapons into the ground to stop from sliding back away from each other. We laid on the ground, not moving until the smoke cleared. It showed nothing but shards of black and silver armor where Talpa had once stood. We all cheered and jumped for joy. Kento high fived Rose. Sai and Selene gave each other thumbs up. Ryo looked at Lita and smiled. Rowen and Amy gave each other knowing looks. Sage looked for me, but couldn't find me. Ryo ran off to find me. Everyone was in a mood of happiness and glee. Until it was shattered by the voice of Ryo yelling out to them.

     "Crystal? Crystal? Crystal! Sage, get over here now! She's not breathing!"