Epic Battle
Chapter 1: Battle Field
Ichigo, Retasu, Berri, Sango, Ringo, Minto, Purin, and Zakuro sat quietly in the dining room, and, most likely, the only room without a hole in it. Ryou and the rest of the watchers trooped in. The girls turned to look at them. "Well, we have good news," Tasuku informed them. "And bad news," Ryou added. The Ichigo motioned for them to go on. "The good news is that now that you are all together, you can learn stronger combination attacks," Tasuku said. "And you can draw strength from your teammates," Kyou added. "You can also use small portions of your teammates' power," Toshino put in. The girls smiled at one another. "But what is the bad news?" Sango asked, concerned. "The aliens have a mysterious energy source they call 'True Aqua'. They are using the True Aqua to power a deadly weapon," Ryou informed the guardians. "We don't know what it is yet, but they are going to use it on the village nearby sometime tomorrow," Kaito added on to what Ryou had said. "You should probably practice with your new . . . boundaries today, so you're prepared for tomorrow," Yukitto advised. Ichigo stood, "Then let's go out to the practice field," Ichigo said and walked to the door. The rest followed her out. Keiichiero walked quietly near the end of the troop. Ryou joined him. "What's wrong, old friend?" Ryou asked. Keiichiero shook his head, "It's nothing." Ryou didn't believe him, but walked in silence next to his colleague.
"We'll play flag," Minto announced to the other guardians. Ryou took a green flag and threw it up in the air. It shot up into the sky and stopped. "I wanna be on Ichigo's team, na no da!" Purin shouted. "I will decided the teams!" Mintoreprimanded Purin. The monkey girl quieted. "Ichigo, Sango, Ringo, and Purin will be on one team. Zakuro, Retasu, and Berri are on my team," Minto decided. The girls nodded and separated. "Strawberry Metamorphosis!" Ichigo shouted. "Coral Metamorphosis!" Sango shouted as a strawberry scented pink mist rolled in. "Pudding Metamorphosis!" Purin shouted. An icy aquamarine blue mist surrounded Sango and the pink mist surrounded Ichigo like a cocoon. "Apple Metamorphosis!" Ringo shouted. A pudding scented golden mist wrapped itself around Purin and an apple mist surrounded Ringo. Ichigo's pink mist cocoon glowed with a sparkling pink light and she dropped down, transformed. Sango landed next to her and Purin did a double summersault, landing smoothly in front of Ichigo. Ringo landed on top of Sango, pushing her to the ground. Sango also took down Ichigo and Purin in the process. Ringo rubbed the back of her head and quickly sprang off the group. Ichigo, Sango, and Purin stood and glared at her. "That wasn't very nice, na no da!" Purin scolded. Ringo's head and shoulders drooped and she blushed furiously. Ichigo sighed and turned to face Minto's team.
Minto raised her arms and shouted, "Mint Metamorphosis!" A sapphire blue mist surrounded her. Zakuro leaped up and shouted, "Zakuro Metamorphosis!" A purple and black cloud like mist surrounded her and meshed with the sapphire blue, creating a cloud like appearance. "Lettuce Metamorphosis!" Retasu shouted and twirled in the air. A mist the color of rain cocooned around her, and frayed, due to her twirling, creating the appearance that it was raining. Berri glowed softly and shouted, "Berry Metamorphosis!" She jumped up and zig zagged through the rain. The greenish gold mist looked like lightening as it trailed after her. The mists glowed brightly and dissolved. Zakuro dropped down, broadsword in hand. Retasu rode down on a small emerald blue wave carrying her emerald watering can. Minto floated above them with her silver and sapphire sais. Berri was the last to appear. Her large angel wings spread and ready. She gripped her double edged sword and hovered slightly above Minto. "Your move," Minto commented.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. Her fiery balls burned brightly. Ichigo's cat ears and tail popped out, a bright red ribbon tied around the end of the tail. "Firestorm!" Ichigo shouted. The balls were discs of fire as they sped toward Minto's team, trailing black clouds behind them. They spun in wide circles spiraling above Minto's group. Fire began to rain down on them and Minto chuckled, "Ichigo, dear, you should know better than that." So saying, the air guardian lifted her sais and shouted, "Windstorm!" Spiraling winds eminated from the glowed sapphire veins on the sais and suffocated the fire, extinguishing it, leaving only menacing black clouds. Minto flew sped toward Ichigo and raised her sais. "Ichigo, use whirlwind!" Ryou shouted. "But that's Minto's attack!" Ichigo shouted back. Ichigo ducked and rolled as Minto dove at her. "USE IT!" Ryou commanded. Ichigo's balls burned brightly as Ichigo stood defensively and shouted, "Whirlwind!" Ichigo felt a large pain rear up inside her. "Surrender to the feeling, and let it flow through you!" Ryou shouted. Ichigo nodded and tensed up before letting herself relax. Winds roared up inside her and her balls of fire were extinguished. The fires were replaced by sapphire rings swirling around the ruby exteriors. "Whirlwind!" Ichigo shouted again, standing up straight. The balls swirled around her and carried her up to Minto's level. Ichigo's tail twitched. "Let's fight," she commented. Minto smiled deviously. "You're on."
The other six watched in shock as Ichigo used Minto's first attack to float up in the air. Zakuro was the first to snap out of it. She waited until someone from the opposing team was ready to fight. When no one turned away from the air, Zakuro cleared her throat. The rest of her team came out of it, but the other team was still watching. Sango was the first to look away. Zakuro raised her broadsword and shouted, "Rose Blade!" Thesilver blade of her sword glowed bright pink and Zakuro rushed toward Sango. The ice guardian raised her wand in defense and shouted, "Heart of Ice!" The gold snowflake spun quickly and a heart shaped block of ice formed at the center. It released and sped toward Zakuro's rose blade. The blade shattered the heart of ice, but cancelled out Zakuro's attack. Zakuro slashed at Sango anyway, but the ice guardian blocked it with her wand. It froze Zakuro's blade where the two weapons had collided and Sango jumped backward.
"Mountain Echo!" Minto shouted, intending to push Ichigo off balance. The silver parts of her sais glowed and the sound waves ricocheted toward Ichigo. Ichigo's eyes widened. She jumped above the mountain echo and the balls were swept away by the attack. "Windstorm!" Minto shouted. The blue and red balls came hurdling back toward Ichigo as Minto released the new attack. "Whirlwind!" Ichigo shouted again. The attack worked quicker and Ichigo fell into the wind storm. She let the winds carry her to her weapons and she jumped atop her balls. From there she pressed toward Minto and got the storm to move with her. The red haired fire guardian rode the storm toward Minto and shouted, "Firestorm!" The balls zoomed out from beneath her and the blue swirls vanished, they were replaced by Ichigo's fire as they twirled once around her and spiraled above Minto. The air guardian crossed her sais in an 'x' formation above her head as fire began to rain down. Ichigo watched from her viewpoint in the windstorm.
Retasu surveyed the battle and her gazed honed in on Purin. The guardian of shock magic. Retasu raised her watering can and shouted, "Emerald Dream!" Emerald waters flowed from the long elegant spout of the watering can and landed on the ground in front of Purin. Giant tendrils of water sprouted up and twisted aroundthe shock guardian like a thick rope. Purin cried out and Retasu cringed. She hadn't meant to hurt Purin. Purin glared at the attack and summoned the strength to strike at the water with her tambourine. flashes of electricity shot through it and the water exploded. "Weren't you electricuted?" Retasu asked.Purin shook her head, "I'm the shock guardian! Electricity can't hurt me, na no da!"Purin tapped her tambourine twice and shouted, "Thunderball!" Balls of bright gold thunder formed from the tambourine bells. The barrage of thunderballs zoomed toward Retasu and the water guardian shouted, "Tsunami Rush!"Deep blue green waters eminated from the watering can in a giant wave and the two attacks collided with a large explosion.
"Rose Whip!" Zakuro shouted. The broad blade of her sword separated into nine whip tails and she slashed at Sango. Ringo saw her partner introuble andjumped in front of her. "Reflect!" She shouted. The ruby mirror glowed and the whip's course was reversed. Zakuro letgo of the hilt and slid out of the way. She summersaulted and grabbed the hilt of her sword.Sango stepped out from behind Ringo and shouted, "Snowball!"Boulders of snow and ice formed at the end of her wand andzoomed toward Zakuro. "Use Firepower to melt them!" Toshino shouted to his sister.Zakuro raised her broadsword and shouted, "Firepower!" A burning flame ranthrough her veins, and, remembering Ryou's words, she let it run its course through her body.The fire ran down her arms and through her finger into the sword. The sword glowed bright red and the blade was set ablazeby fire. "Firepower!" Zakuro shouted again and slashed at thevolley of snowballs. The icy boulders melted and the fire evaporated.
"Disable!" Minto shouted. The sapphire veins in her silver sais ran gold and sharp tingling magic ran through her. She felt as though a hundred thousand needles were pokeing at her. "Surrender to the power!" Keiichiero shouted to his guardian. Minto obeyed her watcher and tensed up before letting go. The pain surged through her. "Disable!" She shouted again as a fiery drop singed her hair. Bolts of lightening and thunder shot out from where the sais crossed. They surged into the fiery storm clouds and the clouds glowed gold before dissipating into the air. Static electricity from the disable attack charged the air. Ichigo felt the wind storm weakening and shouted, "Whirlwind!" The rush of wind coursed through her body and charged the balls with wind, extinguishing the flame and igniting the swirls of sapphire wind around the balls. Ichigo hopped atop them and zoomed toward Minto. The air guardian crossed her sais and shouted, "Wind Arrow!" A small silver arrow zoomed toward Ichigo. The fire guardian dodged sped up and it missed. Minto aimed the larger sapphire arrow and Ichigo shot upward into the clouds. Minto's blue lorikeet wings portruded from her back and she flew up after Ichigo.
Purin and Retasu were thrown back under the force of the collision. Purin knocked over Zakuro and fell to the ground. Berri flew over to Retasu and shouted, "Field Medic!" She slashed her teammate with her sword and Retasu glowed golden emerald and floated upright. She opened her eyes and looked around. "Thanks," She told Berri and turned toward Purin, the shock guardian was in the process of standing up and brushing herself off. Zakuro turned to Purin and shouted, "Rose Whip!"The bladeglowed bright purple and divided itself into nine tails. Purin raised her tambourine and shouted, "Fortitude!" A giant yellow shield of lightening and thunder wove its way aroundPurin in a flash and deflected the whip attack. "Carry me up there!" Retasu pointed to where Minto and Ichigo were fighting. Berri nodded and picked Retasu up, flying her toward the clouds.
Purin vaulted over Zakuro and landed next to Ringo and Sango. Zakuro faced them and held her sword out before her. "Rose Blade!" Zakuro shouted. The shining blade once more took on its pink glow and Zakuro slashed at the trio. Ringo held up her mirror and shotued, "Absorption!" The mirror pulsed red and Zakuro's attack flew into the mirror. Her sword lost the Rose Blade attack transformation. Zakuro ran skidded sideways and slashed at Purin, who held up her tambourine, but not quick enough. Purin was thrown back and the tambourine had a scratch on it. Sango slashed at Zakuro with her wand, intending to feeze the earth guardian, but Zakuro parried and slashed at Sango's feet. Sango jumped and shouted, "Heart of Ice!" The gold snowflake spun and the heart shaped ice headed toward Zakuro. The earth guardian held up her sword and sent it speeding upward. Sango slashed again and Zakuro right arm was encased in ice. The purple haired girl held the broadsword in one hand and shouted, "Rose whip!" The blade glowed and separated. Sango summersaulted behind Ringo who held up her mirror and shouted, "Absorption!" The attack struck home and the mirror started sucking the whip into its depths. Zakuro held on tightly and pulled back,making Ringo stumble forward. Thespectral guardian kept a tight grip on her ruby mirror and pulled back. Zakuro managedto raised her arms of ice andbring it down toward Ringo. Sango was there in a second, blocking the arm of ice. Her wand broke the ice encasing Zakuro's arm and Zakurogripped the handle of her whip in bothhands.Purin moanedand opened her eyes. She stood and grabbed onto Ringo's waist, pulling her back. Sango joined Purin and Zakuro stumbled forward.
Berri and Retasu zoomed toward Ichigo and Minto. Ichigo's black cat ears twitched and she ducked just in time to avoid being knocked over by Berri and Retasu. "Lava Dance!" Ichigo shouted. Her balls circled around her and lava sprang up in a huge wave. It twirled up and sped toward Minto, Berri, and Retasu. Ichigo rode the lava toward her enemies and jumped off as it was about to strike. Retasu swung her watering can and shouted, "Emerald Dream!" The emerald waters flowed from the elegant spout and a wall of water came up to defend the three. It collided with a large explosion, Ichigo was hit with a wave of water and a thin layer of lava rushed over Minto, Berri, and Retasu. Ichigo coughed up water and found herself falling. "Whirlwind!" Ichigo shouted. Her balls turned a mottled purple, then back to red. "Ichigo, you don't have enough power to use whirlwind! Try healing wave!" Ryou shouted. Ichigo agreed and tried not to look at the oncoming ground. "Healing Wave!" She shouted. Ichigo felt as though her blood had turned to salt water and her muscles to kelp and seaweed. Her balls burned with a bright blue fire and they swirled beneath her, rushing up the healing waters. She landed softly on the ground and found herself healed. She heard a loud thunk and turned to see that Minto, Berri, and Retasu had landed on top of Zakuro, who was struggling to get out from underneath them.
Ringo, Ichigo, Sango, and Purin were the first to stand, and, really, the only ones standing because the watchers had all fallen over when Minto, Retasu, and Berri had dropped on Zakuro. Ichigo's balls swirled around her and she shouted, "Whirlwind!" The winds carried her up once more and she jumped up toward the green flag in the sky. She caught it easily and let the winds gently place her back on the ground. She raised the flag and shouted, "I declare this flag the property of team Frozen Strawberry Banna Jell-o!" The flag lit up in flames and a red mirror with a frozen bowl of strawberry bananna jell-o appeared inside it. Minto glared at Ichigo and Zakuro sighed. Ichigo planted the flag on top of a growing pile of flags. Applauding filled the backyard arena. "Now that you're all tired out from battling, I suppose my friends can take you," Kish said as he floated down. Behind him, Pai and another younger alien hovered. Minto, Berri, Retasu, and Zakuro quickly detangled themselves. Kish wrapped his arms around Ichigo and teleported out. "Ichigo!" Ryou shouted. The others looked on in shock. The younger alien smirked. "Without your leader, you shoulder be considerably weaker. You shall fall by the hands of Taruto! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the young one ranted. Pai cleared his throat and glared at Taruto. " . . . and Pai," Taruto added out of fear. "You can take the group of three, I'll take these," Pai said, turning to Minto's team. Taruto grumbled, but turned to Ichigo's team, minus Ichigo.
Pai summoned his Ice Fan and shouted, "Windy Ice Fan!" Icicles and chunks of snow and ice flew at Minto, Berri, Retasu and Zakuro. Zakuro stepped forward and held up her double edged broadsword. A large shield tightly woven of rose thorns and vines shot up from the ground. The icicles hit it and most of the barrage was deflected, but one made it through and shattered the shield.The shards hit Zakuro and she was thrown back. Zakuro crashed into Berri and both landed in a heap on the ground. Retasu stood and held up her watering can. Pai held his hand defensively, readying for an attack. "Emerald Dream, level up!" Retasu shouted. Her watering can floated up and glowed, transforming into a gold flute.Minto held her sais defenisvely, readying for the attack Pai would send after Retasu's strike.
Taruto stood in front of Purin, Sango, and Ringo. He summoned a large spear like projectile and shouted, "Thorn Wrap!" Giant stalks of thorns shot up from the ground. Taruto made a motion with his spear like projectile. The thorns rushed toward the three guardians. Ringo held up her mirror and shouted, "Absorption!" The ruby mirror pulsed more brightly than ever before and absorbed the thorny attack. Ringo stepped back. "My mirror, it can't hold any more attacks," Ringo said with surprise. "Then empty it, na no da," Purin suggested. Ringo shook her head. "I don't know how," Ringo replied. Taruto sighed. "Come on, old has, are you just gonna sit there and talk?" Taruto rolled his eyes. "Guys, I think my weapon wants to level up," Ringo suddenly said. "A weapon can't level up on its own," Sango told her. "I know, but I can't use any more of my attacks.And I don't have enough energy to level up, can you guys cover for me?" Ringo asked. Sango and Purin nodded. Ringo smiled. "Thanks guys." Taruto's eyes widened. "Hey, I don't have to wait for you hags to stop talkin', I can just attack, can't I?" Taruto realized, but by then, Ringo, Sango, and Purin had stopped talking. Ringo stepped back to let Purin and Sango forward. Sango raised her wand and shouted, "Snowball, level up!" Her wand floated forward and Taruto shivered. The wand lengthened until it was Sango's height. Spikes of ice swirled around ablueishcrystal atop the staff. "You're going to fight me with a long white stick?" Taruto taunted. "I could say the same about you," Sango said in defense of her weapon. Taruto humphed and turned away, then suddenly turned around and struck. "Thorn Wrap!" Sango raised her new staff and shouted, "Glacier Strike!" The crystal atop her staff pulsed brightly with a white light. Large chunks of ice accompanied by freezing temperatures and a light snowfall faded in. They floated above Taruto. Sango brought her staff down and the glacier attack dropped on the small alien. Taruto teleported out as he sensed the danger and the glaciers barely missed him.
Retasu shouted, "Sparkling Requiem!" She raised the flute to her lips and her fingers flew over the holdes, summoning waters of the deep.Jets streaked up from the ground surrounding Pai and crashed down on the alien. Retasu bowed with a flourish, "Would you like an encore?" Pai swung his fan and shouted, "Windy Ice Fan!" The ice attack met the tidal wave and froze the oncoming torrent. He teleported out and summoned his thunder fan."Windy Thunder Fan!" He shouted. Bright explosions of thunder and lightening gathered andwere sentcareening toward Retasu. Minto raised her sais and shouted, "Sylph Call!" The tiny blue wind spirits gathered aroundtheglowing sapphireveins in Minto's sais and shot forward to ward off the thunder attack.They collided with a large explosion of gold electricity and sapphire blue sparkles of wind spirits. "Windy Thunder Fan!" Pai shouted again. Thunder and lightening gathered at the fan and he sent it careening toward Berri. The life guardiantook to the air and dodged the attack. Paishotanother thunder attack at her. Berri deflected it with hersword and dove at Pai. The purple haired alien dodged andheld his fan up as a shield as Berri shot toward him again. Berri collided witha sudden shield ofelectricity and thunder, much like Purin's. The life guardian was thrown backinto Minto and both crashed to the ground. Pai's attention turned to Retasu.
Purin summer saulted into the air above Taruto and shouted, "Lightening Strike!" She banged her tambourine on the small alien's head as the golden tambourine glowed. She landed safely on the ground as lightening gathered in the sky above Taruto. Bolts of white lightening rained down on the small alien. He jumped out of the way of the first one, but the second came from the side and he sped backward and was singed by another bolt. Taruto yelped out in pain. Another bolt struck his spear, causing it tofade away. Taruto glared at the golden monkey girl. "Sufffocation Cocoon!" He shouted. A ball of dark grey magic formed in his hands and he shot it at Sango and Purin. Sango struck at the air absorbing cocoon swirling around her, but couldn't break it. Purin sank to the ground, holding her throat. Ringo's heart pounded, could she help? Sango stood tall and tried to jumped out, but the cocoon moved with her and started to absorb her icy energy. Sango dropped down next to Purin as she felt her body temperature rising. Ringo held onto the feeble hope that they might make it out. Taruto smiled maliciously and watched the shock and ice guardians sufferings.
The water guardian held her ground and raised her silver flute. "Tsunami Rush!" She shouted. Her fingers once more played over the flute, the melody summoning waters of the deep and gathering them in a giant tidal wave. The wave flew at Pai, but he was ready with his ice fan. He threw the fan at the tidal wave, freezing it where it stood. Retasu raised her flute to her lips once more and shouted, "Healing Wave!" Healing waters, summoned by her flute playing, rushed down on her fallen comrades, waking them up. Berri stood. "Field Medic!" She shouted, slashing her sword at the forms of Zakuro and Minto. The earth and air guardians stood. "You picked the wrong people to mess with," Minto said, glaring at the older alien. Pai kept his expression stoical and held both his fans. "I'm ready for you," Pai spoke.
"Absorption!" Ringo cried. Her mirror absorbed the attack. Ringo's mirror glowed and pulled away from her hands. It glowed and reshaped itself into a gold hand bell with a loop where the handle should have been. A shining ruby ribbon was threaded through the loop and knotted. Ringo grabbed the ribbon and shouted, "Poison Wave!" The bell clanged loudly and the air around Taruto turned a dark scarlet. Taruto clutched his head and dropped to the ground, excaping the venomous air. Sango pointed her staff at Taruto and shouted, "Heart of Ice!" Her crystal pulsed and a herat shaped chunk of ice formed inside it. A flurry of small snowflakes accompanied it as she released. It careened toward the fallen alien. Taruto jumped up and dodged just in time, but the heart hit his leg, causing it to freeze over. "Yeow!" Taruto yelped and looked down at his leg, then glared at Sango. "You'll pay for this, old hag!" He shouted.
Berri shouted, "Field Medic, level up!" Her sword glowed and split in half. It formed two swirling orbs, a stormy black one and one a lit with white light. Pai smirked and a large ball of black energy formed between his hands with purple energy crackling around it. "Berri, get back!" Minto shouted. Pai smiled. "Life Steal!" He shouted. Berri countered the long black attack by shouted, "Life Steal!" Her black orb flew in front of her and released a wave of energy like Pai's, but crackling with thing lime green shoots of lightening. The two attacks met a stalemate. Pai and Berri's faces were strewn with determination. Each pushed harder, but nothing gave: they were too evenly matched. "Time to unbalance the odds," Zakuro said and held out her Rose Blade. "Rose Blade, level up!" Her sword shattered into five pieces which shrunk to the size of playing cards. They flew by Zakuro and settled in her hands: the Ace of Spades, Queen of Hearts, Queen of Spades, Two of Clubs, and a Joker. "Iris Fold!" Zakuro shouted. Her cards glowed bright purple and flew at Pai. Three of the cards shot through his clothes, the fourth cut his arm and the Joker cut his shirt. He closed his eyes in pain and Berri saw her opening. She pushed harder with her magic and her attack crushed Pai's.
Two angel stood at the edge of Heaven, looking down on the battle taking place below them. They watched the guardians figh the invaders and saw every time they lost or won a small part of it. "These things do not bode well," Gabriel said to his couterpart. "I agree, Gabriel. If only we had been allowed to do our job," His counterpart replied. Gabriel's friend had long blonde hair and cold blue eyes accompanied by pale skin. "I know. But they are not humans; they are not yours to judge," Gabriel replied. His friend nodded. "I know, Gabriel, I know . . ."
Lucifer watched the battle through hard eyes. These other two that the green haired one had brought were good. Maybe Deep Blue should appear to them . . . Lucifer chased the thought away. Only when the time was right would he reveal himself, but he would need a powerful body. TheRuler of the Underworldsat complecently, watching the battle on the earth's crust.