Shulato #5

"Feathers, tell me the Truth!"

Synopsis by Arcadia

Shulato and the others are walking through the mountains, and as usual, Shulato is complaining about it. Suddenly a lizard comes from behind a rock and growls at them Shulato hides, but Lakshu insists the animal is tame, and to prove it, she goes to pet it. Lakshu teases him and Shulato says he's never liked reptiles.

On the Mahava, Renge, her arm in a sling, begs Gai to send her after Shulato again, so she can avenge Takshaka and Ranban. Reiga is sitting in a corner, obviously distracted by something. Kuuya tells Renge that she shouldn't go out while she's wounded, but Gai says there's no time to sit around waiting. He calls the assassin Kali and five identical men wearing identical Shaktis drop from the ceiling. Gai tells them to kill Shulato and they leave, obviously very happy about the order.

Everyone is surprised at Gai's choice of servants. Dan gets mad at Gai for using Kali instead of one of the Hachibushu and tries to attack him. Gai says that Indrah ordered it and he has no choice. He leaves without another word.

Reiga leaves soon after. Since there's nothing to do, he says he'll go take a nap. "What a selfish guy", says Renge.

In his room, Reiga remembers something he saw earlier that day.

Flashback. Reiga is wandering around the Mahava when he sees Indrah and Gai. They stop in front of a wall. Indrah pushes a panel with his staff and a secret door opens. Reiga jumps up and pushes the panel himself and follows them.

They walk down a long, narrow cave. At the end is a stone chamber with stone gargoyles on the walls. There, Kali is indulging in his favorite hobby- slaughtering hordes of people. They beg for their lives, but to no avail. Indrah and Gai watch, apparently unfazed. Reiga is shocked. The Indrah he knew would never allow innocent people to be killed like this.

Indrah ordered Kali to kill Shulato and places him under Gai's command. Reiga says it's like Indrah was switched with a different person. He casts a Karula Reishiha and sends a feather after them.

Finally Shulato and the others have gotten out of the mountains. Shulato wonders why Vishnu didn't teleport them somewhere closer to Tenkuuden. Hyuga gets mad, but Shulato says he's just kidding.

Suddenly, spikes fly at them from all directions. They see Kali standing on a stone pillar. They try to tell Kali they've been framed, but he doesn't listen. Kali jumps, and splits into his clones, all of them going after Shulato. Hyuga and Ryouma transform, but after they do, they can't move. There's a barrier separating them from Shulato and they can't break through it. The Kali clones have Shulato cornered.

On the Mahava, Gai is chanting. He is the one making the barrier. This way, Hyuga and Ryouma can't help and Kali can kill Shulato without any trouble. Shulato tries to transform, but he gets caught in Kali's webs and drops his Veda.

Indrah goes to Vishnu's chamber. Reiga's feather follows him. Reiga is watching. Indrah says that it's funny watching the Hachibushu fight among themselves when they don't know it was he who turned Vishnu to stone. Reiga finally realizes the truth. Indrah notices Reiga's feather and destroys it. Reiga flees the Mahava, determined to help Shulato and the others.

Lakshu tries to stop Kali, but he throws her off. Kali starts to attack again, but Reiga's rings cut through his webs, and distract him long enough for Shulato to transform. Reiga tries to tell Kali what really happened, but he doesn't care. He's only interested in killing, and the reason for it is irrelevant. Shulato cuts the head off one of the clones, and slashes through the others, but the severed parts just reattach themselves. No matter how many times he wounds them, it all heals.

The Kali clones fuse back into one, and Kali jumps back onto the pillar. Shulato doesn't realize where he went, and Kali is able to surprise him. Lakshu asks Reiga why he doesn't do anything to help, and Reiga says he'll do something when he's ready.

The five Kalis have Shulato caught in their web. Reiga notices one moving a little before the others and realizes that's the real Kali. The Kalis cast a Kali Nesshiha. Lakshu yells for Reiga to do something, but he's already gone. Reiga throws a feather into the shoulder of the real Kali and the clones fall, too.

Shulato realizes which one's the real Kali, too, and casts a Shura Mahaken. The real Kali in disintegrated. Without Kali, the clones can no longer exist, and soon disappear. Gai's barrier falls, too.

Lakshu runs to congradulate him. Reiga explains that there was only one real Kali, but Shulato claims he's known it all along and storms off in a huff. Reiga says he's a traitor now, too, so he'll be tagging along, even though dragging a kid along only makes the journey harder. Shulato gets mad at being called a kid and tries to punch Reiga. Reiga grabs his fist and shakes his hand instead, winking at him. Shulato blushes and calls him a weirdo.

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