Shadow Skill TV Anime Series Episode 18 – Synopsis Elle Ragu - 59th sevalle of Kuruda Gau Ban – her adoptive brother Faury Brazmetizer – Sui Reme Kyo Ruu – Septia Feorina – Owner of the Green Octopus Inn King Iba Stola – Hawkeye, 55th sevalle of Kuruda Kai Sink – Crimson, 56th sevalle of Kuruda aka Raze Reme Silver Sword Scarface Vy Low – 57th sevalle of Kuruda Kain Phalanx – G, 58th sevalle of Kuruda Dias Ragu – Black Wing, valle of Kuruda Darkness Teaser Recap of the close of the previous episode. G bursts into the Hall of Hades, and Gau Ban announces himself to the King. (Opening Credits) Act 1 “Gau Ban?” asks the King, and Gau replies, “I am an attendant of Shadow Skill!” The King starts forward: “You are Shadow Skill’s younger brother. I have heard that she is raising you at the risk of her own life. Also, Black Howling of the Prorathan Lightning War.” Gau returns the King’s gaze calmly as he asks, “King Iba Stola, I have one request to make. Please give me the opportunity to fight Mr. Phalanx. I am aware I am inexperienced, but I beg you…” “Gau Ban, this is the first time that we talked to each other.” “Yes.” “Listen up, Kain…” says the King, drawing G’s attention. “This boy says he will be able to correct your arrogance.” “What’s that?” “You seem to believe that for some reason or another, you can prove your strength by winning a King’s head. However, you had better realize that there is someone else who has a comparable power to yours, even among those infamous valles.” G growls his anger, and the King adds, “You can hunt for my head any time you want.” G then turns to face Gau, a feral light in his eyes, accepting the challenge. As the fighters square off, the King says, “I will be the official judge between you two.” “Thank you very much,” says Gau, and fastens Low’s earrings in his ears (Note: Wai! Yaoi moment for all those so inclined! ). G steps forward into position, thinking, “These eyes are…all right, kid…” and sweeps off his sevalle cloak in a gesture to make one’s breath catch. “No…I mean, Black Howling,” he corrects himself, showing the sevalle brand on the back of his hand, “I will fight with all my power together with this mark.” “And I will fight together with my own friend’s soul,” is the quiet reply, that raises the eyebrows of his opponent. Gau marks his cheek with blood, in time-honored tradition: “Kuruda Style Annihilation Technique, Shadow Skill…” G replies, “Kuruda Style Annihilation Technique, Open Skill, the 58th sevalle, also called G, Kain Phalanx!” In a move too swift to be seen, G comes at Gau and knocks him off his feet with a punishing blow from his fist. Trapped beneath a stone bridge, Faury calls upon the power of a water talisman to break through the flaming rubble surrounding her and the mortally wounded Kyo. A cascade of water washes out a path before them, and a breathless Faury encourages the unconcious Kyo on her back: “Kyo, we’re going now…I promise I will never let you die…!” And with her painful burden, Faury makes her slow progress out of the flaming city. Act 2 In the Hall of Hades. G unleashes a second attack with his right fist; correctly anticipated by Gau in his mind, the younger man is still dazed from the first attack to dodge the blow effectively. It connects to his chest, sending him flying. G thinks, “Only an inexperienced valle could not evade my blow like that…” While still in mid-air, Gau receives yet another blow, even as he is figuring out the counter-move to it, and he hits a column, slides down its length, and lands in a broken heap on the floor. “No…never! I can’t win!” He thinks, paralyzed by the blows and his own doubts rising. “So this the power of the sevalle…” Standing over him, G is gloating: “You’re done with three blows! I thought you would last a bit longer…” Gau begins to flash back to his life before Elle, when he was part of a loving family: “I’m done with three blows…I see…I took only three blows, and already I can’t get up!” We see in the flashback a peaceful life in the Kuruda countryside, a farmer’s life, Gau as a child of ten: “I miss my home…Mom! It’s my mom (image of a woman harvesting fruit from a tree)…and Dad too…(image of a strong, smiling man, waving from his ground work)…” The scene shifts to show mounted riders setting Gau’s home town on fire, scenes of the people being killed with arrows. In the middle of it all is a young, bewildered Gau, watching his parents die before his eyes: “Why? Why did you die and leave me alone? If I become strong…(image of Gau’s burning hometown)…if I become much stronger than G, will I see you again?…(image of Kuruda in flames) …I must get up! I must get up!” Beneath the rubble that covers his broken body, Gau’s fingers begin to move. Beneath G’s cold blue gaze, Gau’s arm starts to fight its way through, and the young valle manages to stir the pile of concrete, making the King start forward anxiously. “Don’t push too hard,” cautions G, “You received only three blows of my fist. If you attempt to stand up, you will only experience the pain of hell.” Of course, Gau doesn’t pay any attention to this remark, and manages to get to his knees. We see him flash back to the child he was, tears running in rivers down his face as he watches his hometown go up in flames. “Dad…” he thinks. “Mom. I want to be strong. I couldn’t protect you since I was weak. I want to be strong! I want to be strong! Very strong!” Images of Gau in his present conflict intercut with the younger, weeping boy watching his whole life go up in smoke – even as his present life is on the verge of literally doing the same thing. We come back to the present to see Gau on is knees, and hear G’s voice: “Quit that. The fight is already decided. You’ve got only four more blows to go, and it’s too bad.” Flashback to Gau standing alone at the edge of his old life, bravely resolving to keep on living, and Gau in the present cries fiercely, “I’m not done yet!” taking wild swings at G, who evades his punches smilingly, easily as they come within inches of finding their target. Gau surges forward again, and as G’s fourth punch comes down, the King exclaims, “He evaded it!” Not only that, Gau’s own punch has opened a scratch on G’s face – similar to that on Scarface, but running in the opposite direction. “Is that your counter-attack?” taunts G in a coolly mocking voice. “You’re vulnerable. As I watch you, it demonstrates to me clearly that all those whom you have fought in the past have been dregs.” Not the right thing to say to one who trained under the 59th sevalle, defeated the White Lightning *and* a thousand men in Prorathan…Gau’s blue-green eyes smoulder as he demands, “What was that?” “Your vulnerability gives it all away. You can’t hide it from me.” “I must admit that you are strong… but I don’t want the kind of strength that you have!” “Don’t be a sore loser. It looks bad.” “I’m not sore! I will never be swallowed up by some madness like you have allowed!” “Hmph! So I’m swallowed up by some madness, huh? Are you saying that true strength is some mental strength or a spiritual power or some nonsense?” Suddenly G turns on Gau, anger blazing out of his blue eyes. “You don’t know anything at all! Because I have believed in my own power and pursued it until its ultimate stage, I have finally reached this state of mind. I don’t care if you want to call this a state of madness; if you are afraid of stepping into this stage, then you will never be able to earn your true fangs, and you won’t progress!” “It’s not because I’m afraid!” yells Gau hotly, “It’s wrong, so I won’t go there!” G makes a sound of disgust. “You don’t understand me at all…but you’re not alone, because there is no one that does. No one tries to understand the path that I pursue. But that’s how it should be. No one can understand me…monkeys will never know how a human feels!” “You are being too arrogant!” cries Gau, provoked almost to the end of self-control, making G start in surprise. G puts up a hand to his cheek and discovers that Gau has blooded him after all. The sight of the blood on his fingers pushes him even further into the madness that engulfs him, and he launches a powerful kick (the fifth blow) into Gau that sends the young valle straight into another column and back down onto the floor. But this time, Gau’s fighting spirit has risen, and with sea-green eyes blazing, he whispers, “Come on…sevalle!” as G indeed does just that, his fist with the sevalle brand ready for yet another blow. “The eyes of a beast,” we hear, seeing G’s reflection in Gau’s eyes; then G’s mad laughter ringing through the Hall of Hades. “What’s so funny?” demands Gau, and we see madness shining clearly through G’s eyes as he says, “You have the same eyes as mine, you are a beast as well! Your eyes like me, who believes fighting is madness!” G moves forward, and we see Gau reflected in the blue stare as the young valle hotly denies it: “That’s not true!” “You want to be strong too,” says the sevalle, lording it over the barely standing fighter. “You’re desperate for strength, like mine!” “No, I’m not! Your strength is not the right kind!” “Your eyes long for strength…let it be free! Allow the wild beast inside you to be free!” “What you mean by strength is only madness!” “I told you that true madness is only the strongest kind!” The flaming streets of Kuruda surround Elle as she runs at top speed to the Hall of Hades. She is thinking: ”Gau…” and flashes back to the day when she first met Gau in the ruins of his hometown. “So, what is your name?” she asked him then, starting to walk away. He answered, “Gau…Gau Ban.” Realizing that she was leaving him behind, he started to run after her, and having caught up, asked her where she was going. “I’m going to a city. The city of Kuruda.” “A city? Isn’t it a big place?” “I know.” “So what will you find when you get there?” “A dream, I hope.” “A dream?” “If you work hard you’ll attain a good dream. Kuruda is that kind of a city.” Young Elle’s profile set in hope towards Kuruda fades into present-day Elle’s profile set in grim determination as she runs through the city being consumed by flames. She pauses at the crest of a hill too see the panorama of the city of her dream burning at her feet. The wails and cries of the people as they evacuate in haste float up to her and her eyes fill with emotion. “Gau…Gau…” she thinks, and we see again the tearful young Gau watching his hometown burn up before flash forwarding to the present: “Even if the city burns to ashes…or the body becomes ashes, something is always left, do you know that? Pride and spirit…as long as there are pride and spirit, this city Kuruda will never be destroyed…!!” With a cry that is half-pain and half-anger, Elle proceeds on her mission to the Hall of Hades. Act 3 Folli and Kyo have made their way out of Kuruda, and Folli turns for one more look at the proud city in flames. Within the heart of the blaze, Crimson comes running to join Scarface and Dias in one of the abandoned town squares. “The evacuation has been completed,” he says. “Now, go ahead.” “Shoot, you sound so casual,” remarks Scarface, “Even though we are going to destroying a big city.” “We must prevent the fire from spreading more.” “That’s not what I was trying to say!” “Dias,” adds Crimson, “I’m counting on you, too…” Dias shoots Crimson a “wait-till-this-fire-is-over-and-I-get-you-home” look that is utterly priceless. “Why don’t you join us in finishing this, too?” invites Scarface, and Crimson retorts, “Finish it at once!” In the Hall of Hades, the fight between Gau and G is reaching its crisis point. Gau takes yet another blow that slams him back down on the concrete, and G comments, “I envy your youth and your straight-mindedness to live, and for the amount of time that is left for you…” “Youth?” the stunned Gau wonders, “and time?” “One more attack. Upon the seventh blow you will either leave for the world of madness or the world of death! Be ready for that!” “One more attack!” mutters the King. “Upon the seventh blow!” murmurs Gau, and makes a determined bid to rise to his feet. G offers praise for his opponent’s effort: “You are fighting well; to your credit I will admit that much to you. But the winner will be me in the end.” “No way! It’s not decided yet!” cries our young valle with fire in his eyes, refusing to acknowledge defeat, and the two set at each other again. As they trade sparring blows, G announces, “I will throw the final shot right into your body…” “The final…? The one final shot? One last shot?” puzzles Gau, as the punch catches him full on, as intended. “So everything is over now,” says G, standing victoriously over Gau stretched out yet again over the floor. (Note: Yes, Gau and the floor become extremely well-acquainted in this episode!) Gau flashes back into the past, with young Elle on the rise of a hill, asking him: “Do you want to be strong? In order to be strong, you must be determined!” “Determined?” “That’s right! You must decide your own path yourself, no matter where that path may lead you!” The voice of present-day Elle breaks into Gau’s memories: “Gau, stop sleeping you *idiot*!! Wake up!! You must wake up!” The slight figure at the ruined doors of the Hall of Hades – even more, the command in Elle’s tones -- startles the King, as the 59th sevalle continues angrily: “Even Kyo is fighting at her own limits, so get a hold of yourself!” Kain, distracted by Elle’s tirade at her adopted brother, receives a nasty shock when Gau stirs and manages to sit up: “WHAT! Is he going to get up after although he has received the fury of my seven blows?” “Why did you defeat Lowengren at that time?” Elle cries out, poised for battle herself, but holding back from Gau all the same. “How did you manage to fight a match with a thousand men in Prorathan against Sulouthan? When we first met, you said you wanted to be strong – was that a lie? It wasn’t – was it?” Gau has found his feet yet again, and now recalls Dias’ word at their dinner – now a lifetime ago – “You should know that ‘G’ is the seventh letter in the Latin alphabet.” “The seventh – so that means the seventh will be the one final blow…” Kain’s voice echoes in Gau’s ears as with purposeful steps forward, he backs the 58th sevalle away from him: “I envy your youth and your straight-mindedness to live, and for the amount of time that is left for you…” “Although you have so much power at your disposal, why do you limit the number of your attacks?” says Gau quietly, moving insistently forward. “Seven attacks…seven attacks all together. You decided that you wouldn’t attack more than that…why is that?” Gau’s voice begins rising with his next words, and G begins to display something like fear: “Is it because you only have stamina for seven? Your power increased with every attack, on the other hand, you yourself have apparently become weakened!” G resumes his old bravado as he answers: “Stop being so suspicious! I will finish you off with another blow…just try to break out the sevalle’s strongest legend!” “Another? I can last another attack!” Behind Elle, Darkness suddenly materializes in the Hall of Hades, unnoticed by anyone. The firelight glints off a black wing as Dias raises it high in the air, and holds his position even as Scarface is holding himself ready to deal the blow that will rip up the streets of Kuruda to create a firebreak. Crimson gives the signal: “GO!” and the power of the Black Wing and the 57th sevalle is unleashed in the burning streets of Kuruda… Act 4 At the Green Octopus, Folli has surrounded a heavily bandaged Kyo with all the healing talismans at her command. Feorina comes running in to inquire after the little Septia’s welfare, and Folli replies: “I did the best I could.” Feorina approaches the bedside, hardly noticing the shuddering tremor that sends the water in the bucket by the bed to rippling. In the Hall of Hades, Gau launches himself into the air: “I am invincible!” G launches himself after the young valle, declaring: “You will DIE!” “No one can defeat my Shadow Skill! My Howling is…” – bodies make contact – “ABSOLUTELY INVINCIBLE!” A gasp is wrung out of Elle and even the King makes a sound of disbelief. Gau’s punch has connected square on G’s chest, and now spellcards are flying everywhere in a paper snowstorm as the 58th sevalle’s body makes its descent. “Are all of these talismans?” wonders Gau as he sets himself for a proper landing this time, and Elle stands stunned amidst all the talismans raining about her. “The talismans of evil. The ones that control the dead,” explains G. “The dead?” asks Gau. “What do you mean?” We see a scene of the city, a charred and blackened husk of its former self. The fire has spent itself, even as Kain has, and he tells his listeners, “Three years ago, I challenged the King and used the talismans of evil. Because if you do use the talismans of evil, even if you are defeated and die, you will still be able to stay alive, even though there is a time limit to it. But the one who took my life away at that time was not the King, but my very own friend, Scarface.” Flashback to the scene of Kain’s first death with Scarface standing over him – a mirror image of the present, with Gau in place of Scarface, but Kain once again dying. “It was these talismans of evil that afforded me another three years to die. During that period, I continued to train even harder, and I decided to come here and challenge Hawkeye once again. I was going to kill Hawkeye first and the next sacrifice would be Scarface. I praised myself for working so hard…” Kain stares at his upraised hand with its sevalle brand. “The talismans of evil – was there any meaning for you to go that far?” Gau questions, and Kain frowns, “No, there wasn’t any. In the last three years since I set a deadline, I lived more like a warrior. I’ve been a beast with the fang on my mind…” “The fang!” “It’s been such a long time since I have ever felt this good,” says Kain, the madness slowly clearing from his eyes. “Even though I couldn’t accomplish my goal ultimately…Gau Ban…no, Black Howling…I’m glad I could fight against you in the end.” Kain’s hand starts to dissolve into talismans, and the sevalle sits up to address his opponent directly. “No reasons or meanings are ever necessary for a beast to use its fangs that it was given in the first place.” As Elle and Darkness watch, Kain stands up, slowly turning into talismans, and approaches Gau. “We are the beasts with the fangs on our mind. Our fangs only ever existed for fighting. You realize you defeated a sevalle at your young age…you should be very confident. There is only one thing I can tell you…” Kain lays his hand on Gau’s cheek, as if in benediction: “Although I could never accomplish it, you may be able to become a warrior with a pure heart…just keep going, keep going with your straight-mindedness. Move forward…” And with a blast of wind, Kain Phalanx, 58th sevalle, dissolves into a final swirl of talismans. Tears overflow Gau’s face as a talisman flutters into his hand, and as he stares at it, the King and Elle watch in silence, while Darkness opens his cloak, which is the night sky, and draws the talismans into it before fading away into the Void. At the Green Octopus, Kyo opens her eyes, and Folli cries out her name. Kyo’s first words are: “Gau…Gau Ban…” As the scene shifts to show Gau standing in a column of light shining through the roof of the Hall of Hades, we hear Kyo’s voice-over: “I heard about this a little later on. Gau said that as he had watched those talismans flying about the room at that time, he felt that those white talismans that had an evil power, were quite beautiful.” “October 18th and sunny. I looked out of the window for the first time since I regained consciousness.” We see Kyo looking out at the view of the city. “After all, I just became a burden to everyone. I couldn’t do anything. However, everyone kept telling me that I had done all that I ever could. I think so too, so I’d better quit worrying about it.” Kyo smiles to herself. “I will stop writing in a diary after today. It makes me look in the past. I will live looking ahead into the future.” Scenes of Kuruda citizens starting on the work of reconstruction. “Straight ahead.” Scene shifts to the other world/dimension, where Ren Fuuma is addressing his master: “Boss, where do we attack next? Kisholana, Felisha, or are we just going to attack Lekhitor? I don’t care which one. Why don’t we just blow it all up, boss?” (Closing Credits)