Shadow Skill TV Anime Series Episode 21 – Synopsis Cast of Characters Elle Ragu - 59th sevalle of Kuruda Gau Ban – valle Black Howling, her adoptive brother Kyo Ruu – Septia Kai Sink – Crimson, 56th sevalle of Kuruda aka Raze Reme Silver Sword Scarface Vy Low – 57th sevalle of Kuruda Dias Ragu – Black Wing, valle of Kuruda Teaser Black shadows and the sound of a heartbeat. Gau is lying in the meadow where we left him in the previous episode, and it is his heartbeat that we hear. Blood is slowly pulsing out of him in an ever-widening pool. “I…might not make it, Elle…I’m scared…I’m scared…I’m scared…” “Gau, listen, I’m risking my life for you – I’m serious,” echoes Elle’s voice in his mind, as the camera pans up to the cloaked form of Darkness. “I’m going to try it, Elle, if you can master it by risking your own life, I’ll try it.” “That’s great…” We see that he has flashed back to the moment Elle asked him to master the Kanon move, and the scene where Elle smashes the boulder behind Gau into dust. “I see…Kanon,” he thinks, “I might be able to use that Profound Energy Style…” (Opening Credits) Act 1 “I see…Kanon… I might be able to use that Profound Energy Style…” “That is good. Why don’t you attack me with your move called Kanon?” “He’s reading my mind again!” Gau rises to his feet. “What are you so scared of, Gau Ban! You should know that he’s not somebody you can defeat…just because he’s read your mind, doesn’t mean you have to be scared! Erase all the fear inside of you…it doesn’t matter who I’m fighting, I’m going to defeat them!” Gau makes another determined effort at trying to hit Darkness, but misses – though this time, he manages to stay on his feet for yet another attempt. Battle fury is blazing in those blue eyes…and he thinks, “That’s right, this is how I used to feel, back then, when I was alone in this world (scene of young Gau wielding slingshot, and in the burning village)…this is how I used to feel!” As Gau gets ready to launch yet another kick, Dias, still too far away, launches his black wing into the air, and his cloak as well. The garment falls over Gau, blocking the young man’s charge as Darkness fades out of range. Blood stains the cloak as Gau comes to a dead stop, and then, when he removes it and sees who has arrived, falls to the ground as the adrenaline drains from him. Gau sees the spectre of death coming for him as Dias catches him in his arms, his worried face replacing the spectre. “Dias! My brother Dias!” Black Wing, cradling him gently, and softly admonishes, “You shouldn’t move…don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of the rest…” Darkness fades back into view as Dias lowers Gau to the grass, then turns to stand before Darkness. The Black Wing flings his glasses onto Gau’s helpless body, the better for us to see the grim determination in those green eyes. Darkness says, “Don’t tell me you’re planning to fight me?” “So what if I am?” “The people who dare to interfere in my plans will be turned into dust.” Dias chuckles, head lowered, “I don’t know if you’re trying to threaten me, but I am about to turn back to dust any second, so those words don’t mean anything to me.” Black Wing lifts his head, his gaze that of a proud tigress defending her cubs. Darkness tells his challenger, “I may look like a human, but I’m not. I am an outsider to the human world. I have life, but at the same time, I don’t. I belong to a different existence from you. Are you still willing to fight me?” “I tell you one thing. When I fight in a battle, I am no longer a human being. I feel the blood that courses through my body that turns me into a beast. If you are the fear of death who hides in the darkness, then I am the almighty power that destroys it!” We see the the black wing scything through the air towards its owner, as Dias tells Darkness, “Why don’t we go down into the dark side and settle this fight?” “I understand. All right…attack me with all the power you have!” Darkness makes ready with his quarterstaff and draws his blade as the black wing flies homeward… Act 2 The Green Octopus. Kyo has delivered Dias’ urgent message to Elle, and is announcing her intention of accompanying the young sevalle. At the pier, Elle turns to Kyo and as gently as possible, though very firmly, says, “If what my brother is saying is true, we need to fight against Darkness. It is not like we are fighting another martial artist. You’ll be in the way, so you can’t come.” “But, Elle!” “PLEASE, Kyo, listen to what I’m saying. If you really want to help us rescue Gau, you *must* stay here. I *will* save him.” In the meadow, Darkness launches his attack. As the wave travels towards Dias, Darkness says, “You fool! You don’t even have a weapon...” “My weapon is right here!” cries Dias, as his boomerang flies straight into his upheld palm. With one sweeping blow, he counteracts the wave sent against him and returns it to Darkness. We begin to see the fighter he once used to be, the feared young valle Black Wing who walked with Crimson and Scarface in Kuruda’s battlefields. “I must admit I am impressed,” says Darkness, as Dias sets himself into fighting stance. “You have destroyed my spirit…I see, then. You were planning to fight me, and that’s why you rushed here.” “That’s right! I would not avoid a battle if I can save my brother’s life! Darkness! Why don’t you fight me with your true power now!” Dias’s glance slips backward to where Gau is continuing to bleed his life away, and Darkness, reading the valle’s thoughts, says, “I see it clearly…the doubts you have in your mind about the situation. You are wondering if you can finish this battle before that boy passes away into death. And so…you are also wondering if your body will be strong enough to finish this battle…” We see a close-up of Dias’ grim face and his view of Darkness through blurring eyes. With a fierce cry he launches the black wing and as Darkness deflects it with his staff, Dias fades out of sight. Darkness’ eyes open, and as he turns, discovers his opponent is missing from view. “He disappeared! I did not even catch that quick movement with my Black Eye…” thinks Darkness, standing at the ready. “It’s one of the Kuruda Style Annihilation Techniques. Kamui. I can’t even sense his existence, sound or spirit. I couldn’t follow his movement even with my eyes, ears, or heart. This is an amazing move that cannot be compared with Black Howling. He will not win the battle if it lasts long. If my guess is correct, he is only counting on using one move.” Out of the shadows at last comes the flight of a black wing, which slowly splits into eight lines of force, each one deflected by Darkness’ staff to meet and reform into Dias holding eight boomerangs in his hands. The valle regards Darkness with respect. “You stopped a move that you’d never seen before. That is impressive.” The eight boomerangs meld into a single pair, and then the pair into one. “I see you countered the Godly Power Meditation. It is the technique often used against the martial law of sevalle.” Darkness says, “I think you should worry about your own life right now. The strain on your body is seven times more than you normally endure. You leg muscles are supposed to be ripped, and the blood vessels should be torn by now. I wonder how you keep yourself standing.” “I don’t know…what do you think?” retorts Dias, but a tremble shakes his stance. From his state of absolute helplessness, Gau thinks, “I have to help him! He needs me, I have to help him!” Into this scene walks Elle, taking in the scene with one glance. “Brother!” she cries, and then, “It’s Darkness!” And without care or thought in the world except the love that drives her to the defense of her brothers, or the warning shout of Dias, she launches herself full-bore at Darkness. Naturally, his staff takes her full in the chest after such a reckless move. Dias cries out Elle’s name once again as she goes down, but she rises out of a cloud of dust, merely stunned from the blow. As Dias frantically calls out, “Elle! Are you all right, Elle!” She looks dazedly around, and then her green eyes mirror shock as they spot Gau’s prostrate form behind Dias. “No…” She whispers, then, “GAU!!” Rushing to her adopted brother’s side, her voice is tearful as she asks, “Gau, are you all right? You idiot!” This addressed to Darkness. Elle then runs up to Dias, but he stops her attempted charge with a firm hand. As she looks up at him with startled eyes, he says, “Elle, I don’t want you to help. This is my battle, not yours.” Elle’s voice is caught between rage, frustration and worry as she argues, “What are you saying! Your body’s in no condition to fight!” “Why don’t you understand what I’m trying to tell you!” snaps Dias fiercely, and Elle stands stunned. “Brother…” “Please understand…” Dias asks, looking into his sister’s eyes, and Elle reluctantly steps back, out of the way. Act 3 In Kuruda, on the ramparts overlooking the city, Scarface is standing where we left him in the previous episode. Crimson comes up from behind to stand beside him, saying, “Darkness and Dias have disappeared. Do you know anything about it?” Without turning, Scarface replies, “No.” “It seems that Shadow Skill and Gau Ban have disappeared as well.” “They all might have went for a walk.” “Don’t act stupid. What were you thinking? What were your intentions?” “You already know, don’t you?” “Yes. That is why I came to see you.” “This is the path that a sevalle should take,” says Scarface coldly. “If they can’t overcome it, then they should die anyway.” “Did you really have to do this by involving Dias?” “I didn’t do anything to involve him. He just wanted to get involved in the situation himself. We all know that he’s going to die soon…I can’t imagine Black Wing lying in bed waiting to die. I can’t see him being that miserable. I’m sure to he would not want to end his life like that. You do understand that…don’t you?” Crimson, who has been staring off into the distance as Scarface speaks, turns a sideways glare at Scarface, then looks away at that last part, (Note: Perhaps stung at the thought of death claiming his koibito? ) and after a short silence, says, “Then I’ll ask you this…what are you planning to do concerning some sevalles that have broken the Rule of the Four Fighters?” “What was that?” Scarface is genuinely shocked. Crimson affirms, “This has been kept a secret for a long time. Nobody really knows about this yet. Shadow Skill has defeated Sai Oh from Kisholana the other day.” “Did Shadow Skill kill him?” “No, Shadow Skill didn’t kill him. But it really doesn’t matter if she killed him. The fact remains that two of the Four Fighters have already fought in battle, and that in itself is already a violation of the rule.” “What are we going to do about it?” “We need to think of a punishment and let the other country know about it. We resolved the incident of Zal Zakulia without letting others know about it, but there’s no way to avoid it. We also need to think about the incident regarding the Four Fighters. Also, we have not been able to find out who defeated the fighters from the other three countries, other than the fact that they used the Kuruda Style fighting technique to defeat them all. Kuruda is in great danger, since it seems that they were involved in the extermination of the Holy City. If we don’t act quickly on this, it will only make the people from the project (?) happy.” “Where are you going?” “I’m going to finish what you started – as usual.” “I’m sorry.” “Hm,” says Crimson, scratching his neck. As he leaves, the camera closes in on Scarface’s intent expression as he watches a flock of birds rise up from the trees… In the meadow, Dias and Darkness are still trading blows with their respective weapons. Dias launches himself into the air, making Elle gasp, and as he lands, Darkness launches a wave of force at Dias that knocks down the trees and makes Elle worry, “Oh no, he can’t fight anymore…his legs are damaged now…” Dias stands and takes the full force of the blast head-on, black wing in hand, arms shielding his face. Darkness launches himself forward, as Elle cries out, “Stop it, Darkness!!” Dias strikes out with his boomerang, deflecting Darkness’ attack with his own shield. “What’s the matter? My shield catch you off guard? Well, how about this, then?” Dias reaches within himself and strikes out with his hand, and Elle’s eyes grow wide: “I can’t believe it! He’s protecting and guarding every thought with his will power!” The blast from Dias’ fist drives Darkness backward. In the last instructions he will ever give his sister in this life, Dias commands her, “Elle, remember this – the purpose of your move is not only to attack the opponent and defeat them. There are also moves that you can use to change the battle to your advantage. This move is one of them. Take a good look at it…” Dias takes a deep breath, setting his mind for the task ahead, “Protecting The Soul…the Shadow Style…Kabuto!” “Kabuto!” thinks Elle, “I’ve never heard this move!” Dias tells Darkness, “Your move, Black Eye, will be of no use to you any more. But on the other hand, there is not much I can do at this moment. Show me your true powers, Darkness. I will use a very special move which only exists outside the human world!” Elle, straining to absorb every detail, wonders, “A special move…?” Darkness’ restores his cape, which disappeared during the fight, a move that stuns Elle. Gau in her arms, thinks, “The darkness…the darkness is coming…” Darkness’ hair changes hue from blond to inky black, and covers him down to his ankles, before sweeping upward to reveal his face once again. Dias is glowing with an eerie green light, what is left of his very life, and murmurs, “I’ve been waiting for that…” “Nobody can defeat me!” Dias begins the martial chant, overlaid by Elle’s heartcry, “You can’t do this!” The Black Wing takes one step forward on legs cut and bleeding profusely from the knees, “I am still alive…I am standing with my own will power…Gau, I’m still standing here! The fact that I’m still standing tells me that I can still fight. The Kuruda fighter who can still fight, cannot be defeated!” At what cost to his legs, Dias continues forward, saying, “Nobody can defeat me…with the Shadow Style technique!” As he makes his pain-filled way towards his opponent, Darkness launches himself into the air. Dias throws the boomerang, which misses the soles of Darkness’ feet, and as Elle cries out in helpless fear, Darkness brings his sword down… Only to have it stopped between Dias’ hands, the hands of a master-smith. Darkness says, not without a tinge of wonder, as Elle looks on, stunned, “Your flesh is ripped and your bones are crushed. It is impossible for you to create a wing from arms like that. Why don’t you give up, and leave now? (scene of Dias’ bleeding hands) You’ve just lost your arms and you can’t see with your own eyes and your body is weakened. You’re going to die, and on top of that, your wings are gone. Just how, exactly, were you planning to defeat me?” “My soul…” retorts Dias, pushing aside Darkness’ blade with his bloodied hands, “With my soul.” Knowing the next move will likely be his last one ever, he clenches his hand into a bloody fist. “The souls of the fighters who died in the battle against me. And the souls of the fighters covered in blood that they are proud of!” Darkness looks puzzled: “Soul?” Unable no longer to stand by, Elle disobeys her brother one last time and takes to her feet to run to him, and we see a flashback to the days when she was a child, running to meet him. Dias calls out harshly, “Don’t come here! I told you this was my battle to fight, not yours!!” as we see a flashback of the younger Dias catching Elle in his arms, which fades into Elle coming to an abrupt halt some distance away from Dias. Gau thinks, “I have to save him…I have to go and save him!” and tries to rise. “My soul…” says Dias, “I ask you to create wings once more. Give me the wings so I can fight…” Darkness’ sword slices through a nearby rock. “Give me the wings so I can fly!” The sword comes down into Dias, as Elle gasps in anguish. “Give me the wings so I can continue!" The sword continues its deadly work, and suddenly, we see wings… Act 4 Sunlight and feathers. As Dias’ soul give him a final surge of power, Darkness thinks, “Quick transfer. I can’t read it…it’s Shiel. It is the repeated attack with many kicking moves in it. But this is just a decoy…” We see Gau climbing over a rock from behind the fight, and Elle watching with breath locked in her throat as she watches Darkness deflect her brother’s final attack. “The next move will be a true Shadow Style move that any sevalle could truly be proud of.” A burst of sunlight, and Dias coming out of the light, shouting, “Rapier!” “Oh no! It’s too late!” cries Elle, and Gau stands transfixed as Darkness changes his grip on his sword to meet Dias coming down at him. Dias descends in the classic Rapier pose, and suddenly a black wing appears, emerging from shadows, to strike at Darkness and slice him deeply at the waist. The blow sends him backward, and he addresses Dias: “You stopped my sword with your own two hands, to hide the fact that you were creating a Black Wing, which you had been working on secretly. There will be no death for someone who lives outside the human world. However, Black Wing, you have won the battle.” We see an image of Dias with eyes closed, arms outstretched, and wings sprouting from his back – one very handsome angel, indeed. “Brother!!” Gau’s grief and fury translates itself into a powerful kick, which is freeze-framed as Darkness repairs the tear in his body made by Dias’ boomerang, making him leak stardust. Darkness calmly walks away from the young valle, and the statue-still lifeless form of Dias. “I am not a human being, and yet you have defeated me,” Darkness addresses his opponent. “I will never forget your fighting skill, and the strong mind that kept you going.” Darkness resumes his walk away from Dias, when a strange glow emanating from the Black Wing’s body catches his eye. The ground starts to tremble, and Elle gasps, “The vibration…!” Dias’ body starts to glow even more fiercely, and energy surges outward from him in huge bolts. “Kuruda Style Annihilation Technique,” Darkness realizes, as the wave crests towards him, “Shadow Style Profound Energy Attack. Kanon.” We see Gau’s kick aimed through Dias’ body, sending a wave of force that sweeps Darkness off his feet, and unbinds Elle’s hair, letting it fall about her face in soft waves. She murmurs, “He has mastered the Kanon. Oh, Gau…you have come so far.” The young valle collapses to his feet, tears of grief streaming down his face. The sky clears at last, and the sun pours down on the three figures left in the meadow. On her knees, Elle sighs and with tear-filled eyes addresses Dias, “Brother, I know it was painful. But you kept fighting. Thank you. You can rest in peace now. You can just relax. Good night.” As the camera focuses on the sun glinting off the buried Black Wing, the narrator says, “The fear of death that hides in the darkness has left, and the light has returned. It is a morning where people wake up to the sun and give thanks that they are alive and well to witness a new day. The Black Wing opened his wings wide in the morning sunshine, basking in the sun’s full glory until the very end, when he passed away.” (Closing Credits)