One Night Out - Chapter One

Written by Ptath and Thalia

Assisted by Lady Raina

Betaed by Thalia

IMPORTANT! HEY! YOU! READ THIS NOTICE!

This story is a companion piece to the "Total Mayhem" series, which is set in the universe of the anime series "Weiss Kreuz." You do NOT have to know anything about "Total Mayhem" to understand this fic. All you need to know is that the stuff about "Taketori" and "Ran" and the flashbacks are from TM.

Again, you DON'T need to have read "Total Mayhem" to know what's going on.

Just thought You'd want to know.

We do not own "Ronin Warriors" or "Weiss Kreuz."

This fic is a re-write of Zoomagna's "One Night Out." Zoomagna graciously granted us permission to rework her story to make it fit with our "Weiss Kreuz" story arc, "Total Mayhem." Zoomagna's original story may be found at We would like to thank Zoomagna for her kind support. We hope she enjoys the final product.


Shinma Realm, Throne Room

The doors to the throne room swung open on well-oiled hinges. Three figures stepped over the threshold, marching towards the grandiose throne. The first was a large, hulking figure with dark, wicked wings swooping out behind him. The second's mismatched limbs lent him a grotesque appearance that struck fear and horror in all who beheld him. The final figure was almost slight, and had curves that were distinctly female. As they reached the throne, they dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.

The dark ruler looked over them with grave eyes. "The time has come," he began in a deep voice, "to begin another assault."

"What are your orders, Lumen Baron?" the winged creature asked.

"The same as always, General Raven," the Lumen Baron replied. "General Shayna, you will investigate this new Realm. Deploy your best scouts. General Chimera, prepare the army for invasion. And you, General Raven," he added, "coordinate." He gave them one last look. "Dismissed."

"Baron Shado," Shayna interrupted in a hesitant voice, "if I may ask, what is the name of this Realm?"

"It's name?" Naga Shado asked in surprise. "Why, its inhabitants refer to it as Earth."


Earth Realm, Forest outside of Tokyo

Toma gave the clearing a quick look and dropped his bag onto the forest ground. "Looks like as good a place as any," he muttered. "Far enough away from the city to not pose a threat and far enough from Natsutè's house not to alert the others." His eyes darkened slightly as his mind flicked back towards the other armor bearers. Shaking his head sharply, he scowled. "They're not a concern. Besides," he muttered as he kicked his bag under a tree, "it's been years since I spoke to them. Not since that happened."


Nasutè's House, Three years earlier

Everyone was gathered around the TV to watch a movie when the phone rang. Nastè gave them all an exasperated look when no one moved. "Don't worry," she said dryly, "I'll get it."

Rising to her feet, she crossed over to the kitchen and picked up the receiver. "Hello," she said. She blinked and put her hand over the mouthpiece. "Toma," she called, "It's for you."

"Coming," he called back. Rising, the archer hurried over to the kitchen and took the phone from Nastè. "Hello? Oh, Ran, how…"

Nasutè watched in growing concern as his face paled. Toma gave her a sudden look and turned, heading upstairs, still holding the phone to his ear.

Toma shut the door to his room and slid to the floor. "Which hospital are you at, Ran? And which room? I'll be there as soon as I can."


Present

"Stupid Taketori," Toma scowled. "Bastard destroyed what little family I had." And the worst part, he reflected, was that Taketori had been human. Ever since fighting Arago, he'd thought demons would be the only ones to put his family in danger. But no, a smarmy, koala look-a-like politician had used the only decent family he had as a cover for his own illegal dealings.

But Ran had taken care of that, he thought with grim satisfaction. It didn't do to annoy his cousin. He was a natural red-head and had the temper to go along with it. Running over Ran's baby sister and putting her in a coma certainly hadn't helped Taketori. No, his cousin had somehow gotten close enough to the politician to run him through with a sword. But the worst part had been not being able to help.


Hashiba household, three years earlier

"Listen to me, Toma," his father finally roared. "My sister, your aunt and her family have brought great shame to us! You are not to talk to Ran or Aya under any circumstances!"

Toma laughed bitterly. "How can I talk to Aya? She's in a coma!"

"All the better," his father snapped. "It is unfortunate, yes, but what is even more unfortunate is that her parents decided to embezzle from their employer!"


Present

In the end, he'd conceded. He'd hated himself for it, but he'd done it. He couldn't stand there and argue with his father like that. Not when the old man had their entire extended family's backing. So he'd done what his mother had asked him to do – he'd kept his head down and remained civil. Had "kept the peace," just like he was supposed to. But only for his mother.

His lips curled slightly. Mom had been amazing. Despite traveling all over the world, despite having constant deadlines and mountains of work, she'd pulled money together for him to send to Ran. She'd allowed him to escape his relatives by offering to let him travel with her every couple of months, working with her, earning money to send to Ran and keep up his own schooling.

And now he was here. In a remote clearing in the middle of the woods just as the sun was setting. About to use the armor he'd ignored for the past three years. After all, using the armor seemed to attract demons and monsters and other such creatures. It made sense to keep it put away. Especially while traveling. As much fun as it would have been to watch Frenchmen getting eaten by demons, he really couldn't afford to take the time off to deal with it.

But now that would have to change. Several months ago, something, he didn't know what, had almost ripped through the barrier separating the demon world and the mortal world. He had a feeling Ran had been involved somehow…but it didn't matter. Something had decided to make a big ruckus and he needed to get back into shape to take care of it if it decided to come back.

Grasping the glowing orb in one hand, Toma took a deep breath and summoned the mystical armor.


General Shayna frowned slightly as she suddenly sensed a disturbance in her forces. Her scouts were disappearing one by one…extremely quickly. And…well, now they were gone.

She glared at the tree she stood under and began to run towards the location where her scouts had been demolished. There was a strong power there, she realized, an extremely strong power. Her eyes narrowed. This power, if it was a person, could be very useful.

She came to a halt a few minutes later and ducked behind a tree. There was a warrior in blue armor in the clearing before her. Around him lay the bodies of her scouts. He had one by the throat and was attempting to extract information from it.

She raised an eyebrow slightly. How he expected to get information when he was cutting off its air supply…but he got points for trying. She reached down and pulled a short dagger from her boot. In one fluid motion, she let the blade fly. Within seconds, it was firmly embedded in her scout's skull.

Toma whipped around, launching the body towards her as he leapt away. Shayna's eyes went wide as the body flew over her head and disappeared into the woods.

"I'd say that's a 9.5 in the Olympic game of hurling," she said mockingly as she stepped out. "Congratulations, you've won the gold."

"Who are you," Toma snapped. "Who do you work for? Why are you here?"

"The information you've requested is far too sensitive for the likes of children," she snapped back. "Go back to playing with your blocks and trains. I don't have time to deal with a weak and pathetic boy."

Toma pressed his lips together, eyes flashing dangerously. "Tough talk coming from someone whose minions were just wiped out."

"I don't blame you for being afraid," Shayna taunted. "It's only natural that you would cower before the superior member of your species."

"You asked for it, little girl," he snapped. With that, he lunged forward and tackled her to the ground. She wriggled, slipping out from under him and staggered to her feet.

Her foot lashed out just as Toma rolled to one side and onto his feet. Both stood poised for action when Shayna decided to make the first move. She swung at him only to have her blow blocked while Toma simultaneously brought his other hand up in an open hand slap that hit her with enough force to knock her to the ground. He took a step back to allow her to stand. He didn't want it to end too quickly after all, and besides, it was his turn to have some fun.

Shayna's eyes were ablaze as she leapt, grabbing Toma around the waist and bringing them to the ground yet again, but this time she did not try to escape. This time she was intent on inflicting as much pain and suffering as possible after he had insulted her like he had.

They scuffled for several minutes, each attempting cause as much damage as possible to their opponent in an effort to emerge triumphant. In the end, Toma was the one to emerge victorious with Shayna pinned beneath him.

"Now tell me who you work for," he demanded after he had caught his breath.

"It's a secret," she said slyly. "Come closer."

Toma sighed heavily and leaned a little closer. He knew what she was trying to do, so since her little game wouldn't work there was no harm in playing along.

"Closer," she coaxed.

When he still wasn't close enough she goaded him further.

"Come on, I'm not gonna bite. Besides, you want to know the answer to your question don't you?"

Finally, Toma leaned down till they were almost nose to nose when she suddenly leaned up and kissed him. He released her and quickly scrambled off of her in shock.

"Are you crazy?"

"How else was I supposed to get you off me," Shayna snapped in irritation. She gave him a dark glare as she stood up and began to dust herself off. "Now that you've proven your worth, let's talk."

"It's hard to take that smug act seriously," Toma replied coolly as he folded his arms across his chest. "Especially since I can still see my handprint on your face."

"Fine, you won. Now that we've established your alpha male dominance, can we talk?"

"About what?" Toma asked skeptically. "Your terms of surrender?"

"Forget it. If you don't care if your world is frozen in time and cast into eternal darkness, neither do I. Just don't come crying to me when it's all over." That said, Shayna spun on her heel and began to stalk away.

"Hey, Hey!" Toma shouted. He lunged forward and grabbed her arm, yanking her around to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"Invasion, blue boy," she snapped. "My boss is out to rule the universe. He's also a complete nutjob who thinks he can create a New Light to bring about a Golden Age. Under his rule, of course. However, it just so happens that I'm disinclined to allow him to take over this particular world."

"This world?" Toma asked in a skeptical voice. He gave her a long look before releasing her arm. "Ok, fine. But how does this involve me? What do I care? I'm a night person. I sunburn easily. Why shouldn't I welcome darkness?"

Shayna gave him a furious glare. "Because I can't do it on my own," she snapped. "And you're the only one strong enough. I need your help." Her last words were spoken in a whisper.

Toma looked at her, into her eyes and knew. He knew that she was telling the truth. She didn't want this world destroyed. She cared enough to swallow her pride and ask for his help.

"Ok. What's the plan?"

Shayna looked up, startled. "You, you'll help?" she asked in startled surprise.

Toma shrugged. "Not like I've got anything better to do. Going home and feeding the dog really pales in comparison to saving the world. And since I don't have a dog, well…"

Shayna stared at him a moment longer before a smirk slid across her face. "Good," she said, "my name's Shayna. I'll tell you on the way."


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