Kannazuki no Miko: Priestesses of the Steel Gods

"There is no escaping it. You will be confronted will endless curses."

"All that has been foretold will come to pass."

"You will be cursed in the towns…"

"You will be cursed in the fields…"

"Whenever you enter…"

"Whenever you leave…"

"You will be cursed by all."

"They shall hunt you. And they shall destroy you."

"The sky will turn to copper."

"The ground shall turn to iron."

"Your corpse shall be preyed upon by all the birds in the sky, and all the beasts of the land."

"Nothing can stop them."

The woman garbed in the robes of a nun smiled from her place atop the church, observing the destruction of the small town below, all wrought by the massive beast of crystal and iron wrapped in cloth.

In her head, the soft mantra repeated, the voice of her Lord.

'DESTROY THE LUNAR PRIESTESS'

'DESTROY THE SOLAR PRIESTESS'

Her smile widened.

It was all too easy.

In the town below, chaos reigned as ordinary citizens scrambled for cover, while authorities tried in vain to gain control of the situation.

"What is that thing?!"

"Where did it come from?!"

"Someone get a hold of the army, or the Defense Corp! Don't they know how to deal with monsters?!"

"It's headed for the academy!"

However, Chikane Himeiya didn't hear any of this as she stared up at the massive creature of iron wrapped in cloth that had just smashed part of the school dormitories, her eyes widening in horror as she realized just who was now held in its massive metallic hand.

"Himeko…" she breathed out, seeing the motionless blonde in the creature's hand.

Her hand clinched, then reached for the bow she had brought with her.

"Let her go you MONSTER!" she screamed as she released an arrow. It seemed so foolish, to think that a single arrow might be enough to kill such a giant, but maybe… maybe she could get its attention… get it to focus on something else… something other than the girl in its hand…

The arrow merely bounced harmlessly off of the giant's flank. It didn't so much as twitch.

No…

Chikane sank to her knees as the giant began to back away from the building, oblivious to her presence.

How could this happen? Why was this happening?

Why couldn't she help her?

Himeko… she had promised herself that she would always look out for her… the girl that she had always felt had a destiny intertwined with her own…

And now, right when it counted most… she couldn't do a thing.

She fell onto her hands, tears streaming down her face.

"Please…" she breathed out, "someone… anyone…"

Ordinarily, she would have felt that was just as foolish as trying to shoot that thing with an arrow. She had never believed in praying. Not to God, not to anyone or anything. But now…

"Please save her…"

She knew no one would come. That was just how the world worked.

And yet those prayers were answered.

She heard the energy crack the air like lightning, and saw the beam of pink light shoot down and sear the giant's shoulder. It looked up, just in time for the massive blue and white blur to smash into it.

Chikane was nearly sent tumbling by the mighty gusts created as the giant was sent reeling backwards. She was just getting her bearings when she glanced up. Her eyes widened as she saw that the giant's captive had fallen from its grasp.

"Himeko!" she yelled out as she leapt forward, only just managing to catch the unconscious girl.

Sighing in relief when she found no apparent injury apart from some minor bruises, Chikane looked up to their savior.

It was massive, easily as tall as the other giant, but its body was slender, and graceful looking, floating above them like an avenging angel while flakes of emerald light radiated from its back. In its left hand was a long, thin blade of pinkish energy, while a massive blade of metal was attached to its right.

And on its forehead, even as high above them as it was, Chikane could make out a single word in English. She had heard it on the news in the past weeks…

Dimly, she could make out someone yelling in town, speaking the very words that she was thinking.

"It's a GUNDAM!"

Inside the massive war machine, the young Meister at the controls assessed the enemy in front of him.

"Exia has identified the unknown. Have determined its intentions to be hostile. Moving to engage." Setsuna F. Seiei spoke.

With that, the Gundam Exia shot forward, the GN-Blade mounted on its right arm snapping open.

The enemy mech seemed to have recovered by this point, and brought its fist up to throw a punch at the oncoming mobile suit.

But its reaction was slow, or at least slower than the enemies that he was used to fighting. He was easily able to dodge to the right, bringing the GN-Sword into an upward slash against the enemy's front.

While the blade easily cut through the fabric that made up the strange piece of clothing the mech wore around its upper body, it met considerably more resistance from the armor plating underneath. Setsuna could feel the grinding as the metal drug along the surface. Undeterred, he quickly brought his beam saber in a downward slash. That too, seemed to do little, as the enemy managed to land a punch on him, knocking him back. The cockpit shook as the Gundam touched down, its feet digging into the ground and knocking over quite a few trees.

Shaking off the daze, Setsuna quickly assessed the damage he had just inflicted. There was hardly a mark from where he had slashed the machine with the GN-Blade, but there was a glowing slash mark from where he had hit it with the beam saber, though considering what it usually did to things, that didn't bode well either.

"Ptolemy. The Unknown is showing considerably resistance to beam weaponry. Assistance may be required."

"Roger that Exia." the voice of the pink-haired combat controller replied, "Backup should be there any seco-"

"ROCKETTO PAUNCH!"

The enemy machine was knocked off its feet as what appeared to be a large, black armored fist with a rocket engine smashed into its face.

"Yes, I noticed."

The boy once known as Soma Oogami shook his head as he tried to get his bearings. What was that? First this strange sword-wielding machine and now… whatever that just was.

He saw the projectile as it sped back towards the mountaintop it had come from… and beheld his new foe.

Silhouetted against one of the full moons, standing as tall as his own machine, its body as black as the night sky and as pale as the moon behind it, its eyes of purest gold glaring down at its foe for the puny mortal that it was. No, the being that the minion of evil now faced was no mere robot!

It faced… MAZINGER Z!

And within the mighty Super Robot, Kouji Kabuto beheld his foe, eager grin on his face.

"Mr. Kabuto?"

"Hm?" he noticed the beeping from the Pilder's com screen, showing the face of a young girl.

"I'm Christina, the Celestial Being coordinator for this mission. We appreciate the assistance."

"Happy to help. There's no way I'm letting any of Dr. Hell's flunkies stomp around our own backyard!" It was time to bust some heads! Specifically, this guy's!

"Actually, we don't think this is-"

"Let's go! MAZINGER!" And with a tremendous leap, the Super Robot threw itself at its foe.

"RAAAAAAGH!" with his battle cry, Kouji Kabuto brought his mighty fist down on the mechanical beast! It was only the barest of luck that it managed to side step the blow that surely would have crushed it! The beast tried to counterattack, throwing a punch at Mazinger. But Kouji Kabuto was ready, grabbing the incoming blow. And while the mechanical beast may have been able to throw around a Gundam, it could not hope to break the arm forged of Super Alloy Z!

"Take THIS!" Kouji Kabuto yelled out as he responded in kind, Mazinger's right fist once again finding the mechanical beast's face! And the servant of Dr. Hell was sent flying back, truly no match for the might of the Super Robot, MAZINGER Z!

Meanwhile, in Earth Orbit…

Despite her training as a combat controller, Feldt Grace sighed in exasperation.

"You got that ghost frequency again?" Chris asked from her seat opposite the Ptolemy's bridge.

"Yeah."

"Still hammy?" Lichsty asked.

"Yeah. It seems to think that we're fighting one of Dr. Hell's machines."

"Maybe we should listen to it?" Lasse asked aloud.

…

Despite their professionalism, the bridge crew couldn't help the brief burst of laughter.

"Himeko? Himeko?!" Chikane spoke to the still girl in her arms, trying to rouse her.

She was still breathing, thank god. And she didn't seem to have suffered any injury. Perhaps it was simply the shock of what had happened that had stricken her unconscious? Just watching this attack had been traumatic enough for Chikane. She couldn't begin to imagine what it must have been like being literally torn from a building by that massive metal monstrosity.

The loud report of metal striking metal drew Chikane's attention away from the girl she was cradling and towards that which was responsible for her current situation.

Another robot had arrived, thankfully on the side of the one that had saved Himeko. Like the… Gundam, it was one that Chikane vaguely recognized from the news. Mazinger… something or other. To be honest, she had never much paid attention to those kinds of things. All the conflicts and wars of the outside world had always seemed so distant from her. Something she had never had to worry about. Only those conflicts had apparently now found their way to her home, and her friends. For some reason, her home had drawn their interest.

And somehow, when Chikane looked at the metal creature (was it actually a mecha? Like the two that were fighting it?) that had tried to take Himeko, she couldn't shake the feeling that it looked… familiar. Like she had seen it before in a half-remembered dream. A similar kind of feeling that had convinced her that she and Himeko were connected somehow.

But even with that, as she watched those steel giants battle, Chikane felt something else, something much stronger than some sense of déjà vu.

She felt… insignificant.

Of course, anyone would feel small when looking up at a humongous mecha. But that wasn't exactly what Chikane felt.

She felt as if Himeko and herself had suddenly been thrust into a new, strange and dangerous world.

A world in which they were very, very, small.

This… was not what she expected.

The former nun known as Sister Miyako frowned as she observed what could only be described as the Sixth neck 'getting his ass handed to him'.

What were these machines that stood against them? And how could they challenge one of the servants of the mighty Orochi?

Even through the miasma of clarity that Lord Orochi has bestowed upon her, she could hear something. Something from her former life. Usually it spoke in horrified voices, condemning her for her 'evil doings' and how she had abandoned her 'faith'. She had long ago learned to ignore that former part of herself. But this was different. A different part of her former self. And it wasn't horrified, it was… condescending? Something about her being a 'colossal moron'? And how she had no clue what she was messing with? It seemed to be indicating the two strange machines, screaming that she was in way over her head and Orochi was doomed to fail.

Preposterous.

But even so, the Sixth was meeting considerable resistance. It seemed she would have to provide aide.

Spreading her arms wide, she reached out with her mind, and felt the humming resonance of power as her call was answered.

'Arise… Onokoshizuchi'

"Head's up you two, we just got a new contact! Same energy signature!"

Setsuna's eyes snapped to his TACMAP, immediately seeing the new marker.

"Acknowledged. I have visual contact."

Frankly it would be hard not to notice the massive explosion of purple energy on the other side of the small town, leaving another massive machine in its place.

In truth, he had been slightly confused about the first enemy. It had actually resembled a mobile suit more than the more exotic enemies they had faced in the past. This one was more what he might have expected, an armless humanoid with large curved spikes coming from its back in a circular shape from which sprouted several tendrils that were currently loosing blasts of what looked like purple lightning. Blasts that happened to be aimed at him.

Right. Dodging now.

Exia shot into the air as purple lighting slammed into the ground below it. Setsuna could feel the machine shudder from the explosion. It was fortunate that all he had been standing near were trees.

But the new enemy wasn't done, sending more blasts his way.

Setsuna grimaced in frustration as he weaved in and around the shots. He had been content with running interference for Mazinger, keeping the enemy mech distracted while the Super Robot could land in hits, and between the two of them, he was confident they could take down the unknown. But now with their attention split…

"Ptolemy, new unknown has considerable firepower. Requesting additional reinforcements."

"Roger that Exia. D-Phoenix and Dynames are inbound. ETA…"

Setsuna noticed the shadow flying overhead.

"…right now!"

In hindsight, Sister Miyako thought, it was a good idea that she had decided to control her Onokoshizuchi from the inside rather than ride on its shoulder as she would have preferred. Otherwise she probably would have been vaporized just now. The entire machine shook as the lance of pinkish energy blasted its head, knocking it back.

What was that? She looked around through her Onokoshizuchi'seyes only to see a green blur flying behind the mountains in the distance. She focused her sight on it to see that it was a green figure with… wings? It looked similar to the blue and white machine and it seemed to be holding some kind of weapon that was glo-

Her thoughts were interrupted as another purple beam slammed into her machine's head, knocking it down.

Miyako silently seethed. Attacking from such a distance? Such a coward. She aimed her Onokoshizuchi's tendrils to fire on the new foe…

Only to be bombarded by a new barrage from above.

Turning her attention skywards, Miyako cursed herself for becoming distracted. A massive plane cruised overhead, it seemed to be dropping a trio of shapes. But what she was most focused on was what looked to be a large metallic Eagle rushing towards her. She brought her tendrils up and unleashed a new barrage of lightning. But now the Eagle was… transforming?

"Change Eagle!" Aoi Hidaka screamed the battle cry as she felt the Nova Eagle shift around her. Dodging and weaving through the barrage, she smirked. Whoever was in this thing didn't have very good aim. The smirk grew into a full satisfied grin as she landed a spinning kick right into the machine's face. While it didn't send the bastard flying (that thing was something like five times her size!), it did stop that lightning storm.

Flipping over the enemy, she landed on the ground behind it in a crouch.

"Kurara, Sakuya, Johnny! You guys clear?"

"Affirmative. We're on the ground and moving to engage." the former police officer's calm voice filtered over the com.

"Good." The leader of the Nova team replied, her hands gripping the controls tighter as the enemy machine turned to face her, tendrils glowing. "Cause I think it's pissed."

The enemy machine loosed another blast of lightening as the Nova Eagle dived out of the way as Aoi returned fire with the Eagle's Magnums.

When the lightning blasts didn't hit, the enemy mech seemed to change tactics, as a mass of tendrils shot out from it's body.

"Ah crap." Aoi groaned, "Head's up Kurara! This thing's got tentacles!"

"Yes, I noticed the shots."

"No, not just the lightning blasty-kind!" Aoi shouted back as she readied her melee weapon. "It's also got the grabby-rapey kind."

"… Crap."

The bladeless grip in the Nova Eagle's hand lit up as a pinkish beam shot out of it.

"Haaa!" Aoi yelled, slashing at the first of the tentacles. Unfortunately, this thing seemed to have the same resistance to GN-Particles that the first one had, and the blade only managed to burn through one of them before the other tendrils smashed the Nova Eagle back.

Aoi scowled as she wrenched the controls, trying to get back into the air as tentacles shot towards her…

…only to be blasted apart by an incoming grenade and smashed by a mecha rhino.

"Ha! No rapey time for you asshole!" Aoi heard Sakuya yell over the intercom as Kurara's Nova Liger landed next to her and his own Nova Rhino transformed. The enemy mech was starting to charge its lightning tentacles again when Johnny's Nova Elephant smashed into it, and with the approximate mass of a Gundam, was finally able to knock the enemy mech back, with another beam sniper round to the face courtesy of Lockon.

"Scatter!" Aoi yelled over the com as she shot up into the sky. Kurara and Sakuya dove to the sides, laying down fire as they did, while Johnny pulled back to start using the Nova Elephants heavier weapons.

"Hey Chief!" Sakuya called out as he rolled out of the way of a lighting blast, "Doesn't look like we're putting much of a dent in this thing. Pretty sure we're going to need Big-D for this one!"

"I think he's right." Johnny voiced an agreement, "We're going to need some more firepower."

"Sounds good to me. Kurara, you get all that?"

"Loud and clear. But I doubt this thing is just going to sit back and watch while we combine."

"I hear ya." Aoi opened a new channel. "Hey Lockon, we're bringing out Big-D. We could use a distraction."

"My pleasure."

Sister Miyako grunted as she pulled her Onokoshizuchi back upright, her face twisting into a scowl. It was just one thing after another!

The four machines were moving away. Retreating! Obviously they couldn't fight her head on! That was encouraging. She focused her attention on the largest of the machines, probably the leader, and prepared another blast of demonic lighting.

She was stopped however, by a new barrage of fire from above. She looked up, wondering if it was some new attack from afar…

Only for a large green foot to smash right into her mech's face, knocking it on it's back once again.

For Neil Dylandy, or 'Lockon Stratos' as he was known to his compatriots, things could be going better. He was a sniper after all, both his codename and his Gundam reflected that specialization. Getting up close and personal with the enemy was Setsuna's area of expertise. Unfortunately, the kiddo was otherwise occupied at the moment and the D-Team needed an opening to form up that Big Bashing Blasting Bot of theirs', so it was up to him to play 'bait' for a little while. It wasn't like he was helpless at close-range, he did have his pistols and beam sabers after all.

Of course, those were for use against things that didn't seem to have a massive resistance to Beam Weaponry…

Eh. He'd probably be fine.

As the purple machine rose back up, he brought out the GN-Pistols, letting loose a few shots at the thing's head.

"Damage Minimal! Damage Minimal!"

"Yeah, I can see that." He replied to the orange metal ball with eyes next to him.

That said, it did seem to hurt it a bit more, at least if the flailing tentacles and lightning were any indication.

"Haro!" he yelled as he hit the thrusters.

"Full-Shield Active!"

While the Dynames wasn't agile enough to completely dodge the barrage, the massive fins folding around to its front were enough to deflect the glancing blow, if only just.

As the Gundam came to a stop, Lockon was very aware of the warning signals going off in the cockpit.

"Left Shield Major Damage! Major Damage! Jettisoning!" The lightning blast had apparently fused the folding joints, meaning that the left shield was little more than dead weight at this point. Lockon chewed his lip in thought. This was going to get a bit tricky. His weapons obviously weren't doing much damage to this thing, and it wouldn't take much for this things weapons to do a lot of damage to him. Lockon debated dropping his other shield. It wasn't going to offer him much protection, and he could use all the speed he could get…

He was a little surprised however, when a booming voice spoke from the enemy mech. Even though it was obviously being amplified through a loudspeaker, it sounded female.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR INSOLANCE, MORTAL SCUM!"

Oh good. It felt like monologuing.

"HEAR ME NOW WHELP! YO-"

It might have continued, had a massive armored fist not suddenly sent it tumbling.

He keyed his own external speaker.

"I'm listening…?"

It was times like this that Aoi really appreciated Dancougar Nova's motion-capture control system. Delivering a 20-ton sucker punch with a push of a button and the flick of joystick? Satisfying. Delivering that same sucker punch with your actual fist? Extremely satisfying.

Though it seemed like the electric tentacle machine hadn't had enough yet, seeing it stagger to its feet. Well, if the bastard (or bitch) wanted more ass-kicking, Aoi was happy to oblige.

"Johnny! Throw up a barrage!"

"Roger! Barrage out!" the former salaryman confirmed as the pair of racks unfolded from Dancougar's waist, sending a stream of missiles at the bogey, joined she noticed, by a similar hail of green-tinted missiles courtesy of Dynames.

While the barrage of missiles didn't seem to do much damage the bogey, they did succeed in knocking it back on its ass.

"Kurara!"

"On it!" Their weapon specialist was already moving. Aoi could feel the feedback confirmation in her suit as Dancougar raised it's arms, the heavy blaster cannons unfolding from the hands.

"Firing now!"

Sister Miyako was only just shaking herself out of the daze from the barrage of missiles when the twin blasts of light knocked the Onokoshizuchi down again.

Worse still was the new feeling coursing from her steed. Whereas the previous assaults had stung and burned, this one had hurt. Onokoshizuchi was injured. She knew there were now two large holes in her steed's flank.

This new, massive machine had pierced her barrier, and even more worrying was the fact that it had not been some ultimate, final attack, but rather a repeated bombardment, one that they seemed to have no intention of letting up. These two machines… they were overpowering her.

She could not deny, as much as the voice of her Lord raged that it was inconceivable, she was losing.

At this rate, so long as things continued as they were, her defeat was inevitable.

Desperately trying to maneuver Onokoshizuchi out of the way of a new assault, and noticing just how unwieldy and cumbersome her steed was compared to her opponents, Miyako briefly thought of the Sixth neck. Perhaps he was somehow faring better?

For the young man known to his friends and family as Soma Oogami, things could have been going better. For instance, he could not have been a newly activated sleeper agent for an ancient evil spirit and in the process of smashing everything he knew and loved. But even then, at least part of him, even if it was the repressed evil part, would have things going his way. Instead, not only was he a newly activated sleeper agent for an ancient evil spirit that wanted him to smash everything he knew and loved, not only was he failing at that, he was also getting beaten in the process. So his 'Good' parts were being possessed, his 'Evil' parts were failing at their mission, and all parts were getting their ass kicked.

So yeah, could be going better. The fact that he was suddenly blindsided by another shot to the face seemed to punctuate that.

"RUSTO HURRICANE!"

But the beam rifle shot to the face was only the least of this evil minion's worries! As Mazinger Z let loose a mighty breath unleashing the corrosive winds of the Rust Hurricane! The unrelenting gale tore at the Mechanical Beast, eroding its armor to dust!

"Mr. Kabuto, we have an update for you, do you read?"

"Hm? I hear you Ptolomey, what is it?"

Truly, did this minion of the evil Dr. Hell really beli-

"We don't think this one's working for Dr. Hell. Different energy signature."

"Really?"

Really?

"Yeah. If anything it seems to be similar to the Heterodyne or the Eizo. Plus we haven't seen Baron Ashura or any Taurus's running around. Anyway, the Photonic Institute and Dragon's Hive would appreciate it if we could recover any core components of this thing."

"So, don't completely destroy it then? Good. I like a challenge."

And with that, Kouji Kabuto raised Mazinger Z's arms and fired off both of its mighty rocket punches at once!

The giant steel fists screamed towards their target, the minion of… some… other dark malevolent force had no hope of dodging!

Soma groaned in pain as he struggled to get up, his machine making similar noises.

This wasn't good. He could feel the damage that his Yamikazuchi had just taken, how all of its armor had been either heavily damaged or burned away completely. The same armor that had been the only thing protecting him from his two foes. Even as the voice in his head seemed to have frozen in a combination of disbelief and incomprehension, Soma's mind was allowed a slight reprieve of free will.

Why was he doing this? He knew that the Solar Priestess and the Lunar Priestess had to be destroyed… but why? And why did they seem so… familiar? Like he knew them from somewhere… Especially the Solar Priestess… Why was it that she-

He might have continued that thought, were it not for the armored Gundanium foot smashing into his face, quickly followed by a pair of rocket punches to the chest, knocking the Yamikazuchi back even further.

With his machine's armor crumbling, immense pain from the beating he had already taken, and the voice in his head rattling off various synonyms for 'inconceivable!', Soma's basic fight or flight instinct took over.

His steed spread its arms wide, then folded its forearms inward as its chest opened up, a sickly green light emanating from it – a light that was aimed at both of the enemies before it… and the school building behind them.

Inside the Exia, Setsuna grit his teeth. They could both probably dodge that shot with ease, but with the school behind them… "Kabuto," he yelled over the com, "we need to-"

"Don't sweat it, Setsuna-san," Kouji Kabuto answered as the great iron fortress stepped forward, right into the direct path of the charging attack.

Inside the Pilder, the young pilot's face was split by a mighty grin, "I think it's time I gave this guy a taste of this awesome energy!"

With a scream of fear and desperation, the evil machine let loose the giant orb of green energy.

And as Mazinger's eyes glowed with a brilliant yellow light, the brave Kouji Kabuto turned the power dial all the way up to eleven, and let out a mighty cry…

"KOSHYROKU… BEEEAAAMMMUUUUU!"

In actuality, Soma Oogami didn't even see what hit him. One instant the energy blast he released was hurtling towards his enemies. Then that black robot's eyes started glowing…

Then it was like a second sun burst into being, and shot right at him. He was just able to see his own attack get swept away like a puff of smoke. Then he knew pain. Pain like he had never known before as the brilliant yellow light slammed into him.

It felt like he was burning. It didn't just feel like he was on fire – it felt like he was being dipped in molten steel as what was left of his machine's armor was vaporized.

The pain seemed to last for hours before finally, mercifully, it ended.

Soma gasped as if having nearly drowned. He tried to remind himself that it was just the machine that had been burned, not him.

By some miracle, his Yamikazuchi was still standing. It may have been reduced to a pale shadow of its former self, but he could still feel the faint ripples of its power coursing through him.

And the voice in his head called out to him once again. Calling him to fight. Calling him to win…

Only to be cut off as Soma was struck with what felt like two burning knives being stabbed into his knees.

Setsuna had always prided himself on his throwing skills. Hurling his two Beam Knives into the Bogey's knees had been child's play.

"Exia. Orders are to disable the enemy machine if at all possible." Feldt's voice sounded over the com.

"Acknowledged." Setsuna replied.

The Exia's GN Drive blazed green light as the Gundam shot forward, drawing its Beam Sabers. Within seconds, it closed the distance between it and the enemy, bringing its sabers down in an overhead slash on to the enemy's shoulders.

Apparently, whatever beam-resistant material the enemy mech possessed had been burned away by Mazinger, as the sabers sliced clean through the shoulder joints.

Deciding to be thorough (and most certainly not because he thought it would look pretty cool), Setsuna spun the Exia around towards the left. The GN-Blade snapped open, and in a single, smooth motion, Setsuna decapitated the enemy mech.

With its knee-joints melted and its pilot rendered unconscious from the neural feedback of losing two limbs and a head, the Yamikazuchi unceremoniously collapsed.

The part of Sister Miyako's brain that was still able to think clearly was really starting to curse her machine's lack of mobility

Even through the mental haze, she was becoming acutely aware that her machine possessed certain… drawbacks. Like the fact that it was large, unwieldy and rather slow. And it was likewise becoming apparent that her opponents had her quite outclassed in that department.

Like the fact that an enemy machine of comparable size was able to practically run circles around her. Or the smaller machine that was literally flying circles around her.

Breaking from her thoughts, the Sister let fly with another barrage of her lightning, trying to swat the green enemy. Only it was once again too swift for her, rocketing out of the way and returning fire with its rifle. And while her shots were wild, her opponents were precise, this time striking her steed's storm tendrils directly. She hissed in pain as she felt at least two burn, then grow dim and silent.

She was just regaining her bearings when her machine was struck by another barrage of fire from the larger enemy. This time her whole body burned and ached. She could feel every one of the holes that had been punched in the Onokoshizuchi's armor.

At this rate, she wouldn't last much longer.

Perhaps… maybe the Oogami boy was doing better? If he had been able to defeat his opponents… Miyako took a moment to glance towards her comrade…

…Just in time to see the Sixth Neck collapse to the ground, missing its arms and head.

That image just seemed to punctuate the situation she was in.

How? How was this possible?! The power of the great Orochi was absolute! Nothing was to stand in their way!

At that point Miyako could feel that other part of herself flare up again, if only slightly. Where it had once been warning, followed by exasperation, now that part of herself exuded… amusement.

'What did you expect? You aren't the only ones with giant robots anymore.'

For Aoi Hidaka, things were going about as well as they possibly could. The enemy mech looked just about on its last legs. Another blast from Nova's arm blasters took off the last of its tendrils, while another shot from Lockon took a big chunk out of its shoulder. In short, the bogey was just about finished.

And Aoi was going to make that finish with some style.

"Kurara. I think it's time we cut this guy down to size, don't you think?"

"I couldn't agree more. Also that pun was horrible."

The red-head chuckled before yelling out the command.

"Dancou-Blade!"

At her prompt and Kurara's confirmation, a port on the left of Dancougar's waist opened up, and an orange handle shot out right into its left hand.

As the metal fingers gripped around it, the handle's top burst open in a flash of light. In its place a blade formed almost as long as one of the Gundam's was tall.

Aoi gave a savage grin as she gripped the handle with both hands. And as they had done many times before, her co-pilots pushed Dancougar's thrusters to full, and the massive machine rocketed forward at nearly the speed of sound.

As it neared its target, Dancougar raised its blade high, then brought it down.

"DANCOU-SLASH!"

From her vantage point next to the school, Chikane watched the titanic battle rage on, cradling Himeko in her arms.

Before, the ongoing battle was more of a distraction to her efforts to rouse Himeko. Now she watched with almost rapt attention.

As she watched the four machines battle the two that seemed to wish Himeko harm, Chikane realized something.

When she had seen that machine capture Himeko in its hand, the overwhelming anguish she felt had not just been the fear for her friend's safety.

She had been gripped by a despair she could not explain. Somehow that machine and the other one that appeared later represented something. Something terrible. It was nothing that Chikane could explain or understand, but she knew it was something terrible nonetheless.

That feeling of despair had continued even after Himeko had been pulled from that thing's grasp and into her embrace. The feeling she had felt upon seeing those two machines that was so similar to that feeling she got around Himeko. That perhaps it wasn't just their destinies that were entwined, but somehow their fates were bound to those two horrible machines as well. That was bad enough, but what made the feeling of despair even more palpable was what Chikane felt as she initially struggled to rouse Himeko. A feeling that her efforts were in vain. That no matter what she did or how hard she fought, she would lose Himeko. Forever.

But as her attention was drawn to the battle, Chikane felt something else.

She watched as other great machines rose up to battle those things that had terrified her so. And they weren't just fighting. They were winning.

And those two terrible figures that had at first filled her with despair, didn't seem so terrifying anymore.

Now the despair that Chikane had felt was gone. Instead she felt… hope. She felt like she and Himeko were safe. Perhaps it was the simple fact that the Gundam had rescued Himeko, or the way it and the Mazinger had so clearly stood between them and the first machine. Whatever the reason, she knew, somehow, these rescuers would protect them.

And while Chikane still felt that strange feeling of familiarity when she looked at those two terrible machines, that feeling was growing more and more distant, as if some great weight was being lifted from her shoulders.

As she watched that first machine that tried to take Himeko get hacked to pieces by the Gundam, Chikane smiled. She even felt a small urge to raise her arms and cheer. She didn't really understand what all these feelings meant, but she did know, somehow, that she was safe. And, even more importantly, so was Himeko.

"Chikane…"

Hearing that soft whisper, Chikane whipped her head around to the girl in her arms, and her heart swelled in happiness.

Yes, she knew now, no matter what happened, things were going to be alright. For her, and the girl that she loved.

"Himeko…" Chikane breathed out as she pulled the girl into a hug, burying her face in her thick blonde hair.

As she did, her attention returned to the battle just in time to see the largest of their protectors slice the second terrible machine in half. She almost averted her eyes as their attacker was consumed in a massive explosion, a great pillar of multicolored light shooting into the sky, its brilliance illuminating the entire valley. And those that had defended it.

As Chikane beheld those four great and mighty figures, she held Himeko close and whispered softly in her ear. A new dawn, a new beginning for them both.

"Happy Birthday."

AN:

Wow. I'm gone for five years and THIS is how I make my comeback?

But yeah, if you're wondering what the hell it is you just, I would call it the combination of watching SF Debris's review of Kannazuki no Miko combined with replaying Super Robot Wars Z2. KnM has always been one of those series that I think tries to be two things (Super Robot show and Yuri/Girls Love) and kinda fails at both, or at least fails at being a Super Robot show. And so was born this crazy little idea in which KnM just happens to share a world with a bunch of other Mecha series. Also, my paltry attempt to increase the amount of Super Robot Wars fanfiction out there.

Funny the things that will bring you back after five years.

And if you're wondering, No, I don't have any plans to make this anything more than a one-shot.

Anyway, on to more pressing business. I imagine many of you are wondering about the status of Roku Naruto. Basically, that story in its present form has been discontinued. That goes to for my other Naruto stories as well. In short, I am done with Naruto fanfiction for the foreseeable future. More details will be posted on my profile. If you have further questions, or are just curious as to where that story might have been going, feel free to PM me.

All that said, it's good to be back. And I am BACK. Hopefully for real this time. I have a couple of new stories already in the works, and at least one should be started within the month. Details for those will be posted on my profile as well.

As I said, it's good to be back.

Also, for reference on the various mechs, just search these on Youtube:

Super Robot Wars Z2 Hakai hen Exia

Super Robot Wars Z2 Hakai hen Dynames

Super Robot Wars Z2 Hakai hen Mazinger Z

Super Robot Wars Z2 Hakai hen Dancougar Nova