Chapter 14: "Someone Useless"

Dreko stared up at Treason and the ship… terror in his eyes.

Immediately he let out an air shockwave, knocking out all of the infected samurai at once.

“We… we have to run! NOW!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Shira pushed Rowlo off, sending him flying as she let out a knowing, almost relieved laugh.

“Ah… yes… it’s really over now.”

Rowlo, Peter, Jaylia, and Musashi looked up at the ship and Treason with absolute terror in their eyes.

“What… what’s the meaning of this…” Rowlo muttered under his breath.

Treason landed gracefully on the ground, his presence overwhelming the entire area. His long black cloak flowed behind him in the wind. He looked at Shira, annoyance clear in his expression.

“Tch… look at this mess. How annoying.”

Shira quickly dropped to one knee, bowing her head. She looked up at him with a mix of admiration and respect.

“Sir, I lured them out like you said, I can rever…”

A sharp sound cut through the air.

Shira’s body froze.

A thin line of blood slipped from her lips.

Treason’s arm had turned into a blade, piercing directly through Shira.

Dreko clenched his fists. Rowlo gasped from the floor at the sight, stunned into absolute silence. Peter and Musashi got ready to draw their blades, instantly getting into form for combat. Jaylia was so shocked she couldn’t even move.

Treason retracted his arm, which then turned back to normal. The blight immediately began to retract from the city and the people.

“You… failed, that’s all that matters.” Treason sighed deeply. “What a pain…”

“You… you… what… did you do?” Rowlo stammered.

“I got rid of someone useless. That's it.”

He turned to Rowlo and slowly walked toward him.

“Rowlo Kazan…”

He knelt down to Rowlo on the floor.

“So you’re the new Guardian of the Universe, huh.”

He let out a sarcastic laugh.

“What a joke.”

Rowlo could feel something in him telling him to run and get out of the situation no matter what. It was like a pulsating sensation in his chest.

Peter drew his blades.

“How do you know his name?!”

Dreko put out his hands, blocking Peter’s path.

“Put the blades away, Peter. You guys aren’t a match for him.”

Treason got up and looked over at Dreko.

“Oh… you’re strong, aren’t you. Who might you be, huh.”

Dreko gritted his teeth, anger rising at the unfolding situation.

“Oh… you must be Rowlo’s teacher, huh.” He chuckled slightly. “No wonder he’s so damn pathetic.”

Dreko shifted into a combat stance, his eyes flashing with a faint glint of yellow for a moment.

Treason rubbed his head and smiled a bit awkwardly.

“Wow… everyone’s so tense. I’m not going to kill you guys now.” He shrugged. “It just wouldn’t be that fun, now would it.”

Treason looked toward his ship.

“I’d rather the Time Rangers don’t get involved. Edo and Japan will recover, so they won’t need to interfere.”

He then began slowly floating back toward his ship.

Rowlo slowly got up, despite the feeling telling him not to.

“…But… why? I don’t get it. Why even hurt these people in Japan… why?”

Treason looked toward Rowlo, an inquisitive expression forming on his face. He let out a small laugh.

“Who knows. Maybe a little chaos is good sometimes, huh.”

He paused for a moment, his expression sharpening slightly.

“I hope to see you again, Mr. Guardian. Rowlo Kazan.”

With that, he flew back into his ship. The ship then shot into the sky at incredible speed, vanishing almost instantly.

A calm settled over the area.

Jaylia fell to her knees, shaken by what had just happened.

“Rowlo… he knew your name… your name, Rowlo. Why…?”

“Hm… this is…” Musashi muttered.

Rowlo stumbled over to Shira’s body, lying there lifeless.

“…No… this isn’t…”

Peter placed his blades back in their sheaths and looked over at Dreko.

“Who was that… and why did he know Rowlo?”

Dreko’s expression was disturbed.

“I honestly don’t know… but I could sense he was stronger than anything you’ve faced yet.”

Rowlo looked over at Dreko and Peter, tears in his eyes.

“How did he know I was the Guardian… it doesn’t make sense. And the Lesonian…”

Rowlo picked up an identifying tag from her body.

“Shira… that was her name. I couldn’t save her…”

Jaylia slowly stood, still trying to steady herself.

“We’re going home. We have to. This is madness.”

“I don’t think this ends here, Jales. He was probably Shira’s superior… the head of the Red Hand organization Jinpay mentioned. He’s still out there.” Rowlo responded.

Peter clenched his fist.

“And he knows Rowlo. We have to prepare for the worst.”

Jaylia looked somber.

“The doctor is out there somewhere in the future. He had powers too… we need answers.”

“Yeah…” Rowlo followed quietly.

“Jinpay said he knew of a temple where we can find goro. We find that… and we get out of Japan.” Dreko cut in.

“Agreed!” they all responded in unison.

Later, people began to wake from the blight that had ravaged their bodies. The disease had affected their memory, leaving no one in Edo with any recollection of what had occurred.

As they continued along the road, they couldn’t help but notice that the blight had disappeared from the fields… and from the people.

Rowlo looked out across the land with a small smile.

“At least it’s finally over, huh. The blight is gone.”

Musashi stood beside him, a large smile on his face.

“At last, Japan is restored. The country is safe. Thank you all… truly.”

“Yeah…” Rowlo said quietly. “I wish things had ended differently with Shira, but still… I’m glad.”

He glanced over at Dreko, curiosity in his eyes.

“Shira mentioned something. She said an immortal can take the foosoo of another and hold multiple… is that true?”

Jaylia and Peter looked slightly taken aback.

“Steal a foosoo… what…” Jaylia muttered.

“Hm… yeah, it’s true. But it’s dangerous. If you’re not strong enough, the process will kill you.”

Dreko paused for a moment, thinking.

“It feels like a trillion needles piercing every cell in your body all at once.”

Dreko placed his hand on his chest. A glowing ball of fire emerged from within him.

“An immortal can extract a foosoo from themselves or another if they focus, then place it into themselves… but I wouldn’t usually recommend it.”

He returned the glowing ball back into his body.

“Hm… so even a human like us could wield any foosoo, huh.” Rowlo continued.

“In theory, yes. But only do so if you really have to.”

Jaylia thought for a moment.

“Wait… why aren’t humans born with foosoos if they’re so common? Seems kinda unfair.”

Dreko shrugged.

“Luck of the draw, I guess. About 95% of worlds have a native foosoo. That still leaves the 5%… which is a lot of planets.”

“So not fair,” Peter said with a sigh.

Later, Jinpay’s workshop slowly came into view. Smoke still curled from the chimney. They approached and pushed the door open.

Inside, Jinpay was hammering a new blade, its metal glowing red hot.

He shot up as soon as he saw them, excitement spreading across his face.

“Fufu… you have returned. And I see the blight is gone!”

Jinpay bowed deeply.

“Thank you… truly.”

Rowlo stepped forward.

“The leader of the Red Hand showed up in Edo. Do you know him?”

Jinpay’s body began to tremble.

“…You met him… and yet you stand before me.”

He swallowed.

“All I know is they call him ‘Treason.’ I’m not sure why… but he is extremely dangerous.”

“Yeah… we figured. He killed Shira… the Lesonian.”

Jinpay’s expression fell.

“Oh my…”

“You said you knew a temple with goro, right?” Jaylia cut in.

“Ah, yes… fufu.”

Jinpay hurried over to his workbench and pulled out a map along with a strange metallic object.

“Go here,” he said, pointing. “Apply this to the barrier. It will allow you to enter. There should be refined goro inside… I believe. Thank you once again.”

He handed the map and object to Dreko.

Then he turned to Musashi.

“Thank you, Musashi. It seems you have a good eye for talent.”

“Of course, old friend. These ‘aliens’ have saved Japan. It would seem the old legend you spoke of is true.”

Jinpay tilted his head slightly.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Musashi gestured toward Rowlo.

“This man is the next Guardian. The Guardian of the Universe.”

Jinpay’s eyes lit up.

“…Is that true?”

Rowlo rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah… but I’m from the future, so I won’t be born for another 400 years… I guess.”