TROOPERS � INTERLUDE
SHU'S STORY
by SHIN-CHAN

We all boarded the train and made our way to our seats. I fell back into a window seat and propped my feet up on the armrest across from me. About two seconds later Shan Lai gave me an exasperated look, and Arial knocked my feet off.

"Shu," Shan Lai admonished as she sat next to me. "You know better than that."

I watched disgruntled as Arial sat down next to the window and Shin next to her. "I was just tryin' to get comfortable," I protested. "What's the harm in that?"

I repositioned myself, tryin' to get comfortable again, train seats are just the same as plane seats, bus seats and movie theater seats. Not large enough, not soft enough, and no leg room.

"None," Arial responded. "Just don't inconvenience others." Shan Lai nodded her agreement with that. I rolled my eyes as Shin laughed at my expression.

"Girls," I muttered in disgust and turned to look out the window. They always stick together. Next to me I heard Shan Lai open her bag, and the rustle of paper. Probably reading the magazine she bought before we boarded. I could also hear the muted voices of Shin and Arial. She was telling him about a movie advertisement she had seen. Across the isle, in the next set of seats, Touma was telling Ryo a little bit about his cousin's dojo.

Instead of joining in the conversations, I tuned everything out. Everything was so cosy, so normal these days. Nothing fun had happened for months now, like two of them. Sighing, I closed my eyes.

*******

I guess for the most part, my life has been pretty normal. I come from a large Chinese family. Father, mother, two younger brothers, two younger sisters, and more aunts, uncles and cousins than you could shake a stick at. Just one big happy extended family.

Well, on my father's side. My mother came to Japan from China as a bride, and has no other family here besides us, and she is happy that way. Seems that there was some trouble in her village when she decided toe marry my father, and they ran away together. She hasn't had any contact with her people since, and from what she has told me, I gather it's a good thing too. Her people are not the forgivin' type, if you know what I mean.

I grew up in Yokohama's Chinatown district, doing all the normal stuff kids do; complaining about school, eating, playing sports, eating, playing video games, watch over the younger ones, eating, and learning kung fu.

That all changed after I turned thirteen. This was when the fun stuff began.

I was coming home from a late movie I had watched with some friends after school. We had separated and gone our separate ways several blocks ago, and I was only a couple blocks from home when a hand reached out of a dark alley and pulled me in.

"Hey! Watch it!" I called out irritated. The hand released me and I stumbled forwards several steps. Around me came the sounds of laughter.

I straightened up. Surrounding me in the alley were five teens my age, all in matching leather jackets.

<Oh great!> I thought to myself in disgust. <Mama is gonna kill me!>

Now, that thought isn't as strange as it first seems to be. The five guys obviously belonged to a gang, and they more than likely planned on robbing me blind, then beating the crap out of me. Mama highly disapproves of 'casual brawling' as she puts it, fights with no real purpose. If she finds out what I was planning on doing . . . ah well, what Mama doesn't know won't hurt me none.

I placed my hands on my hips and gave them an annoyingly cocky grin. Gangs hate it when they think you are making fun of them and not taking them seriously. "You know," I told them. "This is one really bad idea on your part. Lets say I walk outta here with no problems, and you all go on your way in one piece."

This little statement did what I thought it would do, it ticked them off way bad.

"Ya little punk!" one of them yelled. He rushed at me with one fist cocked.

I stepped aside at the last moment, grabbed his arm, and threw him into the wall. He made a satisfying crunching sound as he hit the wall, and then crumpled to the ground. One idiot down, four to go.

When the other gang boys saw their friend go down they glanced at each other, at me, nodded and rushed me. All four of them. Maybe they thought a combined attack would work.

I won't elaborate on what happened next, except to say it wasn't pretty. On their side. I was just fine. Only one of them touched me, a glancing blow across my cheek that wouldn't hardly bruise.

After checking to make sure they were in moderately decent shape, I strutted out of the alley. I did make a mental note to notify the police when I got home, none of them were going to die, but a couple would be requiring medical attention to recover properly.

A side note. Now you may be wondering how a boy my age was able to take out five opponents, four of them at once. It was easy. I am a master in kung fu. And then there is the hardly mentionable fact that I am incredibly strong. Not just strong for my age, as one might think, but strong. Stronger than a grown man. So's my Mama, guess I inherited from her, as well as my exceptional fighting skills and reflexes. All which spelt bad news for anyone who messed with me.

"Very impressive," a calm voice came from my left. I spun around. Standing underneath a street light was this youngish looking man. He had long white hair and was dressed up in some sort of monk's outfit.

"You are a strong fighter," he continued. "Full of confidence, and compassion. Well suited for the task which lies ahead."

I blinked in confusion and rapidly looked around. I was the only one is sight.

"You talkin' to me?"

His lips twitched momentarily, then he smiled. "Yes, Rei Fuan Shu. This," he reached into is robes and pulled something out, "is for you."

Almost faster that I could follow, he threw something at me. Hard.

"Hey!" I yelled and caught whatever it was before it hit me in the face.

"You will know how to use it, and what to do when the time comes."

"Huh? What are you talking about . . . Oh hell . . . " The monk began to fade, right before me! Honest! He was solid, then transparent, then . . . gone.

I blinked a couple of times, then scratched my head. "Talk about weird. Wonder what that was all about?" Then I looked down at the object in my hand.

I frowned to myself, and held up a small orange crystal ball between my thumb and index fingers. I peered closely at it, and for a moment I could have sworn I saw a word written in kanji in its heart. Gi = justice.

Behind me, I heard a moan, which reminded me of what I should have been doing instead of talkin' to weird vanishing monks and looking at strange orange crystals, gettin' my butt home before curfew.

I flipped the crystal into the air a couple of times, and then shoved it into my pocket. I had no clue as to what Phantom Monk was talkin' about, but it was a cool lookin' crystal.

It wasn't until the next year that I found out anything new. That was when Arago and his Evil Empire attacked Tokyo, and I discovered that I was one of the saviors of the world. A Samurai Trooper.

The war between the Evil Empire lasted several months, and consisted of two long drawn out battles. It was hectic. We nearly lost our first major battle with Arago himself. The only thing that save us was Ryo gettin' a new armor, one that Arago knew nothing about.

After we won that battle, we all had time for some well deserved R&R. Ryo was in a bad way from using the Kikoutei armor, and it took him over a week to recover. During this time Arago picked out one of his flunkies to find out about and to destroy the Kikoutei armor. This did not work as they expected.

Saranbou suckered Ryo out of Nasutei's house and then kidnaped him. Then he preceded to try to destroy the Kikoutei armor. We had found out what had happened and went to his aid. Turns out the Kikoutei armor is not all that easy to destroy. It draws energy from all five of the Samurai yoroi. We kinda learned that the hard way though. We sent Ryo all our energy once we clued in, and he whipped him in the Kikoutei armor.

Afterwards, while we caught our breaths, I kinda got into a little argument with the others and I left them. During this time another of Arago's goons showed up. I barely made it back in time. With my help, we managed to defeat it.

Now this was when the major problem of the evening, to my way of looking at it, occurred. At least from my point of view. You see, the docks were situated near Yokohama, and the guys all decided it would be a great idea to head to my family's restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I told them no way, bad idea, but they insisted.

The reason it was a bad idea was, up until earlier that week, I hadn't been in contact with my family since this whole mess started. Hadn't the time or the opportunity. And Mama was not happy with me, especially in light of the face I had refused to come home, that I was going to be stayin' with friends for a while. The Evil Empire was still out there, you know. I had to be ready to fight if necessary.

So, Mama was none to happy with me. Showing up at the restaurant would be a bad idea on my part.

Eventually they wore me down. Four against one, and all that fighting had made me hungry. We changed out of our armor and headed into Yokohama's Chinatown district.

As we walked down the streets, I began to realize just how bad a mistake I had made. All the people on the streets were lookin' at me. The Rei Fuan clan is a well known and prominent clan here. I'm probably related to half the people in Chinatown, and a good portion of those who lived here knew who I was on sight.

"Uh, Shu?" Ryo glanced around nervously. "Are you aware that we are being stared at?"

Shin shook his head and spoke up. He, as well as the others had also been looking around. "No Ryo. Not us." Shin turned to me with a question in his eyes. "Shu?"

"I usually hang around here a lot, and I've been gone for awhile. No big deal."

Yeah right. Rei Fuan Shu appears out of nowhere after a several weeks absence. It would be all over Chinatown before we reached the Rising Sun.

"Shu?"

"Yes Seiji?"

"Are you sure they are not staring at you for some other reason." I turned to him. He had a slightly nervous look on his face.

I gave him a wide-eyed look. "Aww Seiji, they wouldn't be staring because I'm hangin' with you guys."

Seiji blinked in bemusement and then hung his head as what I said sank in. "That is not what I meant Shu. What kind of reputation do you have here?"

"Seiji!" Shin exclaimed in protest. "What kind of thing is that to ask?"

"Hey Shin," I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave Seiji a hard look. "My reputation here is not at fault."

"No," Ryo quickly put in, sensing a fight on the horizon. "Of course not."

"Oh no," a new, female voice sang out. I froze. It could only be one person. "Rei Fuan's reputation in Chinatown in untouchable. No one could imagine him doing anything wrong." Uh oh.

"Uh, hello," Seiji turned to the girl. Everyone was staring at her.

"Hi," she responded, dark brown eyes narrowed in speculation. "You must be the new friends of Shu's that I have been hearing about. My name is Kuin Shan Lai."

Oh, this was not good.

"You have heard of us?" Touma seemed surprised. I wasn't.

"Oh yes," she said solemnly. "Mama Rei Fuan was very vocal when she found out Shu wasn't coming home immediately, wanting to stay with friends in Tokyo instead." I winced. From how it sounded, Mama wasn't the only one who was upset.

Shin shot me a surprised look, and then smiled slyly as the put two and two together. He is too quick to catch onto things at times. I glared at him. He just sent a smirking glance to Seiji, who immediately picked up on what Shin had figured out. Touma and Ryo were still in the dark.

"Goodness Shu," Seiji smirked, innocent seeming eyes wide open. "Were are your manners?"

"Yes," Shin was quick to agree, the traitor. "You should properly introduce us."

I glared at the two of them, they smirked back. Okay . . . "Shan Lai, may I introduce you to my friends." One by one I pointed out each of them. "Sanada Ryo, Date Seiji, Hasiba Touma, and Mouri Shin." I took two steps and stood next to Shan Lai, hoping she wouldn't throw a fit over what I was about to do. Girls can be so touchy at times. "Guys, I'd like you to meet my girl, Shan Lai."

It had gone over okay. Shan Lai didn't kill me, which was good. Once we returned home Shin told me he was glad to have meet her, and my family. Shin has the useful ability to calm frazzled parent's nerves. Neat trick, wish I knew it. Seiji said that Shan Lai was a sweet girl, and that he couldn't understand how she got hooked up with the likes of me. As for Ryo and Touma, the both liked her as well, after the shock wore off.

Shin was the next to get a girl. Well actually, he always had a girl, but had never met her before. Arranged marriages, brrr. The idea gives me the chills. I'm glad Grandfather never arranged one for me.

Shin met the little darling early in June, right after her fifteenth birthday, and introduced her to us several weeks later. Boy, first looks are sure deceptive. Kairyu Arial looked like a nice sweet girl, but . . . oh, surprise!

You see, not long after we met her, and discovered the poor thing was Seiji's cousin, we discovered just how deceptive a sweet smile and innocent eyes could be.

This is how it happened. On a nice summer night, some stupid gang boys were spray painting their names and various slogans on the walls of an old shrine. From what we worked out later, one of them entered the shrine and broke a large covered pottery jar. (We knew that because Seiji had been there before. He really needs to find some other way to spend his free time . . . ) The jar contained three bound demons. Once freed of their prison, they promptly shredded the punk, and then moved on outside to finish off his friends.

We saw the news report the next day, and Seiji said he had a pretty good idea as to what had happened. He quickly filled us in on all the nasty details (He reads up on this for fun, can you believe it?) and we all decided to go demon hunting that night.

After the sun set, we all put on our armor and went out looking for them. Seiji had dug up this old charm he had once got from the Tenryu Shrine that he claimed could track the demon, and it led us to the bay.

Once there, Seiji managed it narrow the search area to a ten block area. We split up into two groups, Shin and I went one way, Ryo, Seiji, and Touma went the other.

Ryo was the one who found it first, his luck always seems to run that way. He immediately attacked, and promptly got smashed through a wall of one of the warehouses. Touma and Seiji were fighting it when Shin and I finally showed up.

Shin rushed of to see how Ryo was doing, and Touma yelled at me to help him distract it. He had a plan. So Touma and I managed to lure the demon into an open area, and them Seiji used his attackm on it. Let me tell ya, charred demon and ozone don't mix. Ewww.

Well, after that we separated again, Seiji was claimin' that the second demon was in the area. This time I was with Touma. We walked around for ten or so minutes. Nothing. I was ready to call it quits and join up with the others when I saw a shadow approaching on one of the warehouse walls. Touma and I looked at each other, and split up. He went to watch from the roofs, and I stayed on the ground.

A moment later a figure came into view. A small and delicate form in ornate white armor with a flowing silk cape and overcoat. Oookay. Whoever, whatever it was, it walked right past the alley I was hiding in, heading directly towards the docks. Curious, I followed. And got a surprise.

After two blocks, he stopped exactly where Seiji had fried the demon earlier.

<Touma, think this is the other demon?>

<Don't know. The other wasn't in armor.>

<Well, I have an idea on how to find out.>

<Be careful!>

<Hey, this is me we're talkin' about.>

< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . >

I hefted my staff. A quick sideways blow from behind should answer everything. I snuck up behind it, and swung. And missed! He jumped at the last moment! It had to be the demon.

A wind suddenly picked up, and it seemed to lift the demon up to a nearby building. I stared up at him, he stared down at me. Stalemate.

I smiled to myself as I watched Touma position himself behind the demon, lifting up his bow. And then, for some stupid reason, he fired a warning shot! The demon spun around and Touma shot off another arrow.

This was when I realized I had messed up. As the second arrow approached, the demon quickly moved out of the way while summoning a glowing staff out of nowhere. As he lifted the staff, I caught a momentary glance of his face, not enough to really identify who it was, just enough to tell it was human. Someone else had mystical armor besides us!

We fought him anyway. He had shown up where demons were present, and he had acted very suspicious. In all likelihood we figured that he was controlling the demons.

Unfortunately he got away. Talk about one slippery sucker. He managed to break away every time Touma and I tried to double team him. Finally he ran into an abandoned warehouse, and I saw what I thought would be a way to end it.

"GEN-TES-SAI!"

I happily watched as the building collapsed upon itself with a giant roar and a cloud of dust. Lets see him get out of that!

"SHU!" Touma landed next to me. "What are you doing!"

"It was condemned," I quickly pointed out, referring to the building.

"But what about . . . " There was a creaking noise from the rubble, and Touma and I both stared at it. "What the . . . "

Suddenly, a mini whirlwind roared out of the rubble, tossing timbers and concrete. In the center of the whirlwind was the white warrior. He looked around and saw us staring at him. Before our eyes, the whirlwind dissipated and the white warrior landed on a large slab of concrete. He raised his staff and pointed it at us. I clenched my staff in readiness.

"HAYAI-KAZE-FUKU!"

The next thing I knew, something hit me in the chest, hard, and then I crashed into a brick wall.

"SHU!" Touma spun around, and the white warrior vanished.

"Why that little . . . " I growled as I creaked to my feet. "When I get my hands on him . . . "

<What are you two doing over there!>

It was Ryo.

<We were fighting someone wearing white armor. Mystic armor.> Touma quickly proceeded to tell them what had been happening.

<You should have told us earlier.> Shin admonished. <Any ideas as to where he came from?>

<No.> Touma looked around. <But keep your eyes open. I think he headed northwest.>

<Downtown? Okay, lets go look for him.>

"Shu, how are you feeling?"

I glared at him. "Mad!" I slammed my fist in what remained of the wall. It collapsed. "Come on Touma. I want him, bad."

It wasn't long until he was spotted.

<I see him!> Seiji exclaimed. <In the heart of Shinjuku!>

<Be careful,> Shin called out. All four of us began to converge on Shinjuku.

Barely a minute passed before we saw Seiji's attack, on one of the taller buildings.

"I wonder if he got him," Touma murmured. A moment later we got our answer.

"Holy sh . . . " I exclaimed as we watched Seiji slam into a building, come out the other side, and land in a second. What the hell kind of attacks does this person have?

"Seiji!" Touma immediately went to his aid.

"That's it!" I growled and clutched my staff. "That guy is toast!" I started to leap from building to building.

"CHOR-YU-HA!"

<Careful Shin!> I thought to him. <This guy is good!> No response. And no answering attack. <Shin?> Still nothing. What happened? <Shin!> I raced towards the rooftop.

We all arrived at the same time.

"YOU!" I yelled. The white warrior, staff in hand, was facing off against Shin! <Not Shin, you bastard!> I thought and rushed towards him.

"SHU, NO!" Shin rushed towards me and tackled me! "Don't!"

"Shin, what the . . . "

SO-EN . . . " The white warrior spun around. Apparently he hadn't seen Ryo arrive.

"RYO!" Shin screamed. "NO . . . "

"ZAN!"

The white warrior didn't have a chance. The flames rushed towards him and surrounded him.

"ARIAL!" I spun around. So did the others. Shin was on his hands and knees, staring at the wall of fire.

"Shin?" I took a step towards him, and stopped. Tears were running down his face and dripping onto the roof.

"Arial," he whispered in a broken voice.

Huh? "Arial? Shin, what is the matter?"

"LOOK!" I turned around. The flames from Ryo's attack were still burning brightly and expanding. Expanding? Wait, there was a glow of some sort inside, a flash of pale blue. The glowing light got stronger, and the flames began to subside.

"What is that in the center?"

I peered closer. Seiji was right! There was something inside the blue light. A human form. The flames faded away completely, and then so did the blue light. Then we saw who it was.

"Arial?" Shin whispered hopefully as he got to his feet. My blood had turned to ice. Oh God. It was Arial. She was floating, with a blue aura around her, unconscious. The aura faded, and she collapsed. Touma barely caught her before she hit the roof . . .

*******

"Attention please. We are now arriving at Nermia station. Please stay seated until the train comes to a full stop, and have a nice day."

I looked up. Nermia already? That was fast.

Arial's face was plastered against the window like an eager child. "It looks normal enough."
"Huh?" I had to have missed something.

"Oh," Shan Lai waved her hand in the air. "While you were spacing it, Arial has been entertaining us with wild stories about how strange Nermia is. Unusual occurrences, sudden storms, animals acting like humans, demons, things like that.

"Someone has been watching too much late night TV if you ask me." Seiji smirked from across the isle. "You should be paying more attention to your homework instead late night monster features."

"Really?" Arial purred. "Strange. I haven't had any problems with any of my assignments Seiji." She gave him an innocent look. "Can you say the same?"

Seiji shot her a killing glare and threw himself back against his seat. Touma, who had been watching in silence, turned towards the window, a slight smile on his face. Ryo, Shin, Shan Lai and I exchanged puzzled looks. I joined them. What was that all about?

The train stopped and we began to gather our luggage. As we stepped onto the platform, I looked around, and then at Arial. <I wonder,> I thought. <If any of those stories Arial heard are true? If so,> I grinned, <we might be in for an interesting week.>

THE END

(Hayai Kaze Fuku = quick wind blow)

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