The breeze hits Y/N's face as he rides on his horse Kage, hearing the trotting of Kage as he sprints as fast he can.
Castle Shimura was now in sight... He could see it on the mountain side, still intact after all these years.
"Castle Shimura... My Uncle's castle. Father would take me down to see my Uncle here, and let me explore the castle while my Father and Uncle would talk" Y/N said to himself, remembering the memories he spent at his Uncle's castle, and that's where he met his best friend.
The gates were closed as Y/N approached with his horse after having a flashback of memories, as the guard at the gate stood on the balcony above the gate.
"halt!" the guard shouted, "state your business".
"I am Y/N Sakai, I wish to speak with Lord Shimura, my Uncle, I have to report important business, regarding the Regime" Y/N replied, leaving the guard a little shocked.
"oh, I'm sorry Lord Sakai, I couldn't tell if it was you wearing the Ghost mask... Wait? Did you say Regime? I'll get the gate open" the guard hurried down and shouted in Japanese to some other guards to open the gate.
With the gate open, the guards took the privlage to bow towards Y/N as he is a Lord to them also.
His horse trots on in and comes to a stop when near the steps up to temple tower where Y/N's Uncle stays in.
"Uncle should be in his quarters, praying maybe, or conducting business" Y/N narrated in his head, climbing up the steps and opening the double doors as a few Samurai guards stationed in the temple tower took a second to bow towards him in respect not only for Lord Sakai, but for the Ghost as well, who doesn't need honor to fight.
He takes the ladders and the samurai stationed on the floors in the tower, guarding the place bow to show respect to the Sakai name and the Ghost.
One more set of ladders was up in his Uncle's quarters, climbing up to the top to see his Uncle meditating.
"Y/N, I was wondering when you would visit" Shimura stops meditating and stands up on his feet, to greet his nephew.
"it's good to see you Uncle" Y/N replied, bowing afterwards.
"you too Y/N" Shimura smiles and bows afterwards.
"I've come with urgent news... Bad news actually" Y/N looked troubled, removing his Ghost mask to show the lower half of his face.
"I could tell by the way you look troubled... What seems to be the issue?"
"I was riding for Omi Village, scouting the path for bandits... Until I ran into a beached, hi-tech boat. It... Possessed the symbol of the Regime" Y/N replied, his Uncle looked at him with slight shock.
"Regime? Here? Are you sure it was their boat? The defences would tear them apart if they dared to invade Tsushima again"
"I am... It was merely a scout group, 4 soldiers, I killed them and kept their leader alive for interrogation before killing him off, they managed to slip past the defences and from this... It seems they want to invade Tsushima again" Y/N explained more in depth, Shimura looked away for a second in disbelief, never had he thought the day Tsushima was planning to be attacked again.
"then we must prepere, if Superman wants a fight? He'll get one, we will defend Tsushima till our last breath with honor" Shimura says with a stern voice, his ancestor's heritage was shown by the tone of his voice.
"the Ghost will strike fear into the hearts of the invaders, with you joined with Clan Shimura and the remaining Shogun reinforcements, they will not stand a chance against us again" he continued before turning round and walked over to his sheathed Katana and his armour.
"Uncle.... I... I want to go to the mainland... To the heart of where the Regime works" Y/N says as Shimura turns round, with a face of disapproval.
"Y/N... You cannot leave this island, it is far too dangerous"
"Uncle... Please"
"no Y/N..."
"Uncle... Listen... Please"
Shimura opens his mouth to speak but closes it after seeing Y/N bring out a piece of paper with writing on it... It was a letter.
"this letter was given to me a few days ago, the letter tells of where the Regime operates, and where they are operating from... A country named America... The same country I visited with mother years ago when I was only a boy" Y/N explains and waits a few moments as Shimura reads the letter, "the person that wrote this letter is located in a city named Gotham, I don't know who it is... But, he or she has requested for the Ghost to join the fight... Along with the forces of Tsushima" Y/N explains more in depth as his uncle finishes reading the letter and hands the letter back to him before looking away for a brief moment.
There was 1 minute of silence before Shimura spoke.
"if... You go... I cannot go with you... Clan Shimura along with the remaining Shogun must stay on Tsushima, to defend the people that live here" he says with a dishearted voice.
"I know... I understand... But whoever this person is... I need to find them... We may delay the invasion, or even defeat the Regime... My father said that this Katana can cut through anything... And anyone... That includes powerful beings that are considered gods" Y/N replies.
Shimura looks away for a second... Thinking about you... What if you die? This will probably the last time he'll ever see you.
"If I don't come back... Avenge my death... Lord Shimura" the Ghost puts on the mask as Shimura looks back at him. Uncle and Nephew bow in respect afterwards.
"may the Kami and Inari bless you Y/N Sakai" Shimura says, his voice went quiet a little as he spoke.
"may it also bless you... Lord Shimura" Y/N says back, bowing one more time before leaving for the door, turning his back towards his uncle who watched him leave.
Thoughts ran through Y/N's mind... Could this be the last time he sees his uncle?
Knowing he would be going to the mainland to find the person in Gotham at a designated location shown on the letter.
He just needed to find a boat... Or find someone who can drive a boat... And with the given location on the letter of where the boat can safely pass into the US, he knew there shouldn't be any trouble but must also be prepared if trouble does come.
Kage was now visable in Y/N's eyes as he stepped outside and walked down the steps to his beloved horse, putting the letter back in the satchel of his horse, he climbs up onto the saddle.
"one day we'll go for a peaceful ride" Y/N says to his horse before guiding him through the courtyard of civilians, Clan Shimura warriors and Shogun reinforcements as they bowed in respect to him.
Once reaching the castle gates, Y/N with his horse, rides down the pathway that leads to the roadway.
"I need to find someone who can get me to America, with the coordinates given to me on the letter by the person who wrote this, I should be able to get in without being detected by the Regime" Y/N mutters to himself.
~ ~ ~
Red Sun Prison
Metropolis
"my answer still stands Kal... I'm not joining" Supergirl replied, not wanting any of her cousins tyrannical crap.
"c'mon Kara, we're supposed to be family, everything has changed since Metropolis and I'm doing everyone a huge favour"
"doing everyone a huge FAVOUR?! This isn't helping Humanity, you're enslaving them, killing them because they disobey your rules, you've took their freedoms away! General Zod did this!" Kara looks at Superman with overwordly anger, she never thought her baby cousin would become who he is today, from all the stories she heard when she first arrived to Earth about how "Superman saved the world multiple times, saved Metropolis from danger over and over again, and then founding and creating a team of Heroes called the Justice League that kept the world safe for times to come" she was so happy to know her cousin was alive and grown up.
But, as Brainiac invaded Earth, she learned that the stories was just a fairy tale, it was all lies, yes he was a Hero before and Humanity wasn't afraid of him, but... They now feared him... They feared the symbol he wore, the S, the House of El.
It was... A 'beautiful lie'.
J
ust as Kal was about to speak, a Regime Loyalist soldier walks in to report.
"Lord Superman" he hangs his weapon over his back and kneels before him, as Kal turns round.
"Rile" Kal was pleased to see his most trusted Loyalist soldier kneel before him, Rile is the Commander of the Regime Loyalists who only take prisoners if necessary, they kill who disobey a single rule, which is why people fear the Regime Loyalists, Rile is cold blooded, he only takes prisoners if necessary, he's killed not only men and woman, but also children too without mercy, "have you got anything to report?"
"yes... And unfortunately it's bad news" Rile reports back, Kal looks displeased to know it's only bad news.
"when I come back Kara... I hope you make your decision final... Or there will be consequences if you don't join" Kal looks back at her before walking off with Rile
"what's the bad news?" Kal groans in frustration.
"from the sudden silence of our scout group, I can confirm they have been slaughtered, Cyborg picked up the scout teams life signals and only recieved flat lines" Rile says, feeling sorrow for his Loyalist scouts that perished.
"someone killed them... Could be those Samurai that should've died long ago" Kal says with annoyance.
"no.... The body cams didn't show it was Samurai who killed them... It was someone else... A figure who wore blackish, goldish and greyish looking armour and wore a black oni looking face mask with red outlines and gold fangs. I couldn't recognise who it was but from what a few others that watched the footage... I can confirm that the legendary myth is real... The armour was worn by many who became that legend long ago. The Ghost killed the scout group" Rile says... Kal immediately looks at Rile and an instant flashback plays in his head, from the day he wanted Takamatsu Sakai who was the Emperor of Tsushima at the time, to join and help the Regime, only for Takamatsu to refuse his offer to join, Kal made a big mistake by threatening the Emperor as a blade was pulled towards his throat.
"this blade was reforged by the Kami Gods, it can cut through anything, that includes you, if you threaten me, my family or Tsushima again, I will hunt you down"
He remembered seeing the armour, exactly how Rile described it, blackish, goldish and greyish armour, black oni face mask with red outlines and gold fangs.
"Lord Superman, are you alright?" Rile asks, snapping Kal out of his little flashback for a moment.
"yes Rile, I'm fine... Just had a little thought, that's all" Kal replies, blinking a few times.
~ ~ ~
Tsushima Island
Japan
Y/N kept riding down north with his horse, a village was up ahead and now visable within his sights, he was looking for a specific person who goes out to the mainland with his boat.
He was looking for a good friend of his.
Arriving to the village, the guards stationed at the gates, bowed in respect to the Sakai name and The Ghost, his horse trotting in calmly afterwards.
Eventually... He found the good friend of his he was looking for named Takai Sunohara.
"Takai" Y/N recognised the familiar face of his old friend, Takai stops what he was doing and laughs with joy at the sight of his old friend.
"Lord Y/N Sakai: The Ghost, hahaha, it's good to see you again" he bows in respect, as Y/N does the same before hugging it out like bros.
"it's good to see you too Takai... I came to ask for a favor" Y/N replied, Takai pulled back from the bro hug to ask what was the favor.
"sure... Anything for you my old friend" he says with a positive attitude.
"I would like to take a boat to America-"
"wait wait wait... You can't... Have you heard the news lately?" Takai interrupts.
"I know... That's the reason why I want to go there... To take the fight to them" Y/N immediately replies.
"it's suicide Y/N, by the time we get there we'd be... Well... Arrested and possibly executed-"
"we don't have to worry about that" Y/N interrupts, showing Takai a note of coordinates where to go... And where it's safe to take a boat to.
Takai takes the note and reads it, good thing he can read English, otherwise Y/N would have to go through translating it all to him.
"huh... I see... Whoever this person is, really needs The Ghost, am I right?" he asks, in which you nodded your head in response to his question.
"right, follow me, we'll take one of my new boats to these set of coordinates, bring your horse as well, I've got a stable on my new boat for him"
"this is why I've always counted on you Takai" Y/N replies with a smile behind the Oni mask...
To be continued....