Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina, Sailor Moon, or Touhou Project. …Not that Touhou has anything to do with this. I just wanted to put that out there, is all.
Sailor Ronin
Chapter 2: Of Suspicious Cats and Genki Fangirls
By Raithe (With special guest author Irritus!)
"And that was our interview with Mr. Sanada! Next up, wh-"
A flick of the remote turned the television off, and he turned his gaze to the others in the room. "So," he began, "let's start from the beginning, shall we? First of all, why did you choose that particular strategically-useless street, hmm?"
The three kama-itachi looked at each other nervously for a moment before Ichirou stepped forward. "Well, we, uh, we just thought-"
"Save it!" He cut him off with a roar. "I know what you were thinking, and it barely qualifies as such." The triplets cowered as he took a deep breath, regaining control of himself. "What about that speech of yours? Could you have possibly been any more cliché?"
This time it was Tsubasa who answered, her naturally high voice made even higher by fear. "That… that's just what youkai always say! We did a lot of research!"
"You mean you watched a lot of movies and anime," he corrected acidly. "And you've made us look ridiculous and incompetent in the process." His glare sent her cowering behind her brothers. "And you didn't even manage to kill a single senshi! In fact, you brought two more out of the woodwork!"
Jirou came to his siblings' defense. "We can't help that! It's not like they would've just changed their minds about being heroes if we hadn't shown up!"
He sighed. "Yes, I suppose you do have a point."
Emboldened, Jirou continued. "Besides, these two seem really incompetent."
"And yet you lost anyway."
"Well…" Jirou hesitated. "…We almost won?"
"About the only thing you did right yesterday was that you didn't hurt any civilians." He fixed them with a steady gaze. "You realize what a failure like this means, don't you?"
"What? No! Please! Not that!" Ichirou pleaded.
"You three shall…"
"No! Have mercy on us!" Tsubasa begged.
"Have your pay cut by twenty percent!"
The triplets' despairing wails echoed throughout the compound's corridors.
"And that was our interview with Mr. Sanada! Next up, what happens wh-"
With a small hop and a swiping paw, Luna turned the television off. She turned back to the gathered senshi.
"I do not like it," Rei said, pacing back and forth across the room.
"Aww, but why not?" asked Usagi. "With all these youma showing up, we could use the help!"
"It might be helpful, if they weren't so destructive," Makoto put in, rubbing her forehead. "That guy in the interview said they broke more stuff than the youma."
"Maybe we could, I don't know, train them or something?" Minako hedged. "Their hearts are in the right place, after all…"
"You are assuming too much, Minako." Rei shook her head. "It is possible this is some sort of trick."
Luna seconded the idea. "I agree. In fact, I find it very likely that they're youma themselves, trying to con their way onto our good side so that they can destroy us from within!"
Artemis stared at his fellow feline for a moment. "…While I wouldn't go quite that far, I do agree that we need to be careful. Their timing was rather… convenient."
"Not to mention how cliché the whole thing was. The way that guy described it, it sounded like a bad manga," Makoto added.
"I'm sure they were just caught up in the moment!" Usagi said, coming to the absent 'heroes'' defense. "Besides, I think some of that stuff Sailor… Fusion? Some of the stuff she said sounded cool!"
"You would," Rei said simply, rolling her eyes.
"Hey!"
As the two started bickering, Minako turned to the last girl in the room. "Ami? You haven't said much. What do you think about all this?"
"I think…" the dark-haired girl began slowly, "that we should probably find those two before the outers do."
"And that was our interview with Mr. Sanada! Next up, what happens when you m-"
Naru let out an annoyed mutter and fumbled for the remote, turning the television off. "I don't see why they have to keep repeating that stupid story," she grumbled, settling back down on the couch in the common room.
"What do you expect?" asked Kitsune, joining her. "A pair of new 'heroes' have emerged. Of course they're not gonna let that story die."
"They didn't talk about the real heroes this much!" Naru countered.
"Yes they did."
"…Well, at least they deserve the praise. I really don't want to have to hear about that pervert this early in the day."
"Then why did you sit through the interview again?"
"Umm… because… uh…"
"I think sempai and Su were cool!" Shinobu piped up from the other couch. "Fighting off monsters, rescuing damsels in distress…" Her eyes glazed over as she drifted into fantasy.
"Nothing that dork does can ever be considered cool," Sarah proclaimed from next to Shinobu.
"And he's more likely to feel up any 'damsels' he finds then rescue them," Naru added. "And he's off alone with poor Su again right now, too."
"From what I saw, 'poor' Su was practically dragging him along behind her when they left," Kitsune informed her.
"Well, he obviously…" She paused for a moment, thinking. "…And where's Motoko, anyway? She was gone yesterday, too."
Kitsune and Sarah shrugged (Shinobu was still off in dream-land), and the one-time ronin grabbed the remote and turned the television back on.
"And that was our interview with Mr. Sanada! Next up, what happens when you mix sake with ye-"
Rolling her eyes, Motoko strode out of earshot. She had heard the whole thing the previous night, both from the news and from Su herself.
She had left early that morning – before Urashima and Su, in fact – and was determined to locate and fell another youkai before the day was through. Her wanderings had brought her to Akibahara, in front of what was apparently an appliance store, given the televisions in the storefront window.
Her hand idly brushed against her katana. She'd brought Shisui today, Raijuu having been rendered useless by its mere five-minute charge. She idly wondered how long she would need to search before finding a youkai.
Shrugging her shoulders, she continued down the street. She was sure that she would run into one… eventually.
"And that was our interview with Mr. Sanada! Next up, what happens when you mix sake with yeast? Find ou-"
Su was practically bouncing in the booth with glee. "Hey! Hey, Keitaros! They were talking about u-"
The rest of her statement was lost in an incomprehensible mumble as Keitaro lunged across the table, clamping his hand over Su's mouth. "What part of 'secret' identities have you forgotten?" he hissed in her ear. He glanced furtively around the diner they'd stopped in, wondering if anyone had heard her.
"mm rmgrnl rn?"
"Well, be more careful!" He suddenly noticed that all eyes had turned on him – including several people looking through the outside window. They began pointing and whispering, and, not wishing to be arrested for assault or kidnapping, Keitaro quickly released the short blonde.
After taking a quick gasp of air, Su assured, "Heh, sorry Keitaros. I'm just so excited!"
Keitaro sighed, head in his hands. Hopefully they wouldn't run into any more monsters any time soon, but the way his luck was running he wasn't counting on it.
Su continued her hyper chattering. "Do you think we'll see any senshi today? I mean, now that we're officially…" Keitaro gave her a warning look. "…'fans', they've gotta meet us, right?"
"I… don't think it works that way, Su."
"Aww…"
The waitress came by with their orders – including a banana-split for Su that made Keitaro ill just looking at it – and the two dug in.
Motoko refused to be disheartened, even after several hours of searching without a sign of a youkai. She knew it was just a matter of time before one reared its head. Perhaps she would find one in this park?
No sooner had the thought entered her mind then a scream rent the air. Checking behind her, she found a young woman held by some unknown being that had definitely not been there a moment before. It seemed to be human, except for its red skin and monstrous, oversized fangs. The youkai opened its jaws wide, ready to bite into the woman's neck.
In one fluid motion, Motoko whirled, drawing her sword and slashing with a yell of "God's Cry School: Evil Slashing Sword: Second Form!" Even before she'd finished the overly-long attack name, a blade of pure ki sliced through the air, cleaving the monster in two and turning it to dust while leaving the woman unharmed. She collapsed to the ground in terror and relief as Motoko rushed to her side. The others in the park began applauding.
"Are you all right, miss?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, thank you so-"
Her clothing fell to pieces.
Silence reigned.
The woman looked down herself, unbelieving. She looked at Motoko, expression blank.
The silence was broken when she slapped Motoko in the face – hard – before diving into some nearby bushes. "Pervert!"
Motoko rubbed her jaw, idly wondering if this was how Urashima felt. She shook her head; this was just a misunderstanding – Urashima brought his pain upon himself!
Before she could attempt to rectify the situation, she saw the air shimmer out of the corner of her eye. Turning to face it, another of those… things materialized and leapt at her, sharp, glistening nails extended.
Without thinking, she again swung her blade, cleaving it as well. As dust showered down on her, more and more creatures began to appear on all sides, easily numbering in the dozens. People began fleeing in all directions – those who could, at least. A handful were trapped alongside Motoko within the still growing ring of youkai.
Motoko steeled herself for the battle ahead. She was determined to protect everyone, even if it meant her life.
Several hours of pointless wandering later, Keitaro and Su decided to have lunch back at the same diner they'd eaten at before – Su had taken a liking to their banana-splits. As they approached the street it was on, however, they noticed something amiss: The street was devoid of people, and there were odd, loud chewing noises coming from around the corner.
Motioning Su to silence (which she somehow managed), Keitaro poked his head around the corner. In front of the diner was a large, horned, orange, humanoid creature, reaching to nearly twice Keitaro's height. It clutched an equally giant club, and it was emptying crates of food – stolen from a nearby abandoned delivery truck – into its mouth with its free hand.
Silently cursing his luck, he pulled his head back. "It's a monster. Its back is turned to us, so we should-"
"Charge in and take it out?" she whispered back excitedly.
"What? No! We need to think strategically from now on!"
"Oh, fine. Let's get changed first, though." She pointed at a nearby handy alley.
Half a minute later, they were back in their position at the corner. "Okay," Keitaro instructed, "here's the plan: You ambush it from here with your bombs before it notices us, while I use the time to dash in and electrocute it. Then-"
"Got it!" Su interrupted. Before Keitaro could react, she dashed into the middle of the street and lobbed one of her grenades with a shout of "Fusion Cluster Bomb!" At her yell, the monster turned in her direction and caught the bomb full in the nose, causing it to drop its club in surprise as the orb flew apart. Dozens of tiny balls fell about the monster and detonated.
Keitaro slapped his forehead at the sight of the devastation wrought on the area.
"Fusion Jet Kick!"
Keitaro's attention was brought back to Su, who was running down the street. As the smoke around the monster cleared, she launched into one of her signature flying kicks, catching it in the center of its chest.
It didn't even flinch.
As Su rebounded, it caught her out of the air by her legs. Keitaro started to dash madly towards them as it gave Su a vicious shake, dizzying her.
"Churga… What's this?" it mocked in a deep, guttural voice, all its attention focused on the hapless would-be senshi. "I wonder how good a club you'll make?"
As it reared Su back to smash her into the side of the diner, Keitaro finally reached the pair. Desperate, he dove for its ankles, twitching his hands to start the energy flowing.
On contact, thousands of volts of electricity flowed into the monster – and Su as well. They convulsed for a second before Keitaro finally released his grip and cut the power. The now unconscious monster loosed its grip on Su and dropped to the ground like a stone. Su – who was conscious, somehow – landed head-first on top of Keitaro.
She rolled off of him and got to her feet, hair frizzed out and grinning crazily. "Well, that could have gone better, huh, Tempest? Hee hee…"
Keitaro glared at her through his mask. "Why didn't you follow the plan?"
"Hey, no worries! It all worked out, right?"
Keitaro started twitching.
"Oh no!" Su gasped.
"What? What is it?"
"You didn't say 'Tempest Lightning Grip', or anything! We'll have to do this over again!"
Keitaro was silent for a moment. Something snapped.
He grabbed Su by her shoulders, pulling the shorter girl off her feet and face-to-face with him. "Don't you get it?" he shouted. "This isn't a game! You could have died!"
"It's not-"
"Yes it is! You can't go around fighting monsters without some sort of plan! In fact, you shouldn't be doing it at all!"
"But you-"
"I'm practically indestructible, you aren't! How do you think the rest of us would feel if you were hurt? Or killed? Consider our feelings for a change!"
"Tempest-"
"NO! I'm not done yelling yet!"
"But the monster-"
"Was about to smash you to bits! You cannot keep playing hero, do you understand me?"
She hung her head miserably. "Yes, Keitaro…"
"Good. Now, what did you want to say?"
"Well… I was gonna warn you that the monster was back up, but it's kinda pointless now."
"What?" Keitaro turned to look behind him and found that the monster was, indeed, back on its feet – and moments away from smashing the two of them with its massive club.
Without thinking, he threw Su clear, whirling around and raising his hands in a feeble defense. He just knew this was going to hurt.
Then a bolt of lightning struck the monster. It dropped the club once more, the tree-thick weapon landing mere feet in front of Keitaro.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" A glowing golden disk struck the monster, turning it to a fine dust before boomeranging back.
Keitaro and Su followed its path and discovered three senshi – Mercury, Moon, and Jupiter, if Keitaro remembered the news correctly – striking battle poses some twenty feet away, now focused on the two of them.
Moon pointed at them and announced, in a tone rival only to Su's performance the previous night in clichédness, "So we've finally found you, and not a moment too soon! Just who are you and what do you to think you're doing? Are you enemy or ally?"
Keitaro racked his brain for a way to diffuse the situation before a fight broke out between them. Horrifying visions played through his mind, not only of them being thoroughly trounced by the girls, but also of all the accidental gropings and strippings he'd inevitably perpetrate on the heroines. And then even more horrifying visions of the beatings they'd give him over his unintentional perversions.
Before he could speak, Su beat him to it with a high-pitched squeal. "Oh. My. God! I am your biggest fan! You're the inspiration for this whole thing! Tempest said we couldn't meet you, but I knew he was wrong! Can I have your autographs?" She was literally bouncing with excitement. Pulling a pen and a pad of paper from her satchels, she ran over to join the stunned senshi and thrust them into Moon's hands. "Make it out to Ka… I mean, 'Sailor Fusion'!"
"Uuuh… Sure?" Sailor Moon scrawled on the paper as Keitaro resignedly joined the four girls. No sooner had Moon finished then Su grabbed the pen and paper back, staring at the signature with another squeal and repeating the process with the other two senshi.
"That… was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen," Keitaro commented as Su hugged her newly acquired autographs.
"Meh, I've seen worse," Jupiter said.
"You only think that because you don't live with her."
"Why? Is she really that bad? …Wait a second!" She snapped out of her confused state, taking a combat stance once more. "You still haven't answered our questions! Who are you?" The other two senshi gave a start and copied her, though Moon seemed rather half-hearted about it.
"Well, we're-" Keitaro began.
"You're newest team-mates!" Su finished, drawing gasps and shocked expressions from everyone present. "I'm Sailor Fusion, Mistress of Science and Explosions, and that's The Tempest Ranger, Master of the Storm's Fury!"
This was the first Keitaro had heard of any of this. "Uh, Fusion? A word?" He drew her a short distance away, took a calming breathe, and yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Uh… I think the senshi heard you, Tempest."
"They were supposed to." Keitaro turned to the other three. "Look, I'm sorry about this. Fusion just… gets these ideas, sometimes…"
"Hey!"
"You can't just go around deciding things for people! You know that!"
"Oh yeah? Then why are you trying to decide things for me right now?"
"What? No I'm not!"
"Yeah you are! You decided that I couldn't join their team!"
"That's… I didn't…"
"Umm… Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere more private?" Mercury suggested, breaking into their argument before it could get any more ridiculous. "How about that diner?"
"Oooh! They have the best banana-splits! Come on, let's go!" Su dashed off and through the diner's door. Keitaro followed more slowly, head in his hands.
Dust covered the ground in a wide radius around Motoko, smothering the grass. She stalked a tired, protective circle around the seven terrified civilians, now clustered in the center of the ring made by the creatures. Her hakama was torn in several places, though aside from a small scratch to her calf the youkai had not yet harmed her or the others.
They were keeping well back, now, chattering in their strange language. After some twenty of their number had been slain over the course of a few minutes, they had learned what happened when they got too close.
Motoko had learned as well, no longer bothering to use Evil Slashing Sword against them; they could easily dodge at that distance, and she needed to conserve her energy. At least no more of them had appeared, but even so, she doubted she could kill them all if they rushed in all at once.
Suddenly, the chattering took on a different tone, almost like… laughter? One more youkai strode up to the ring across the grass, this one in a different, elderly-looking and wearing almost ceremonial garb. It lifted its scepter above its head, chanting in a rhythmic, musical tone. After a few moments, the others took it up as well.
Motoko's eyes widened as the spell hit her. Her vision swam. Her ears rang. Her head felt like it was about to explode. Dropping her sword, she collapsed to her knees and clutched her head against the pain, dimly aware that those she was protecting were doing the same.
The youkai began to draw near, slowly, confident that they had won. Motoko reached for Shisui, but the pain wouldn't let her do any more than weakly grasp it. One of the creatures stood over her, grinning tauntingly, and she knew the fight was over.
A whirlwind sprang up around Motoko and the others, tossing away the youkai that had come too close.
The pain faded as the winds raged, and Motoko got to her feet, hair playing in the relative calm of the storm's center. The whirlwind died down, revealing a good half of the youkai splayed on the ground, stirring weakly or not at all.
A form – Motoko's vision was still swimming, it almost seemed to have wings – began to rush about the battlefield. Youkai fell as it rushed past, turning to dust, and still more were slain and harried by the blades of wind the person sent out.
Not letting her confusion stop her for long, Motoko hefted her blade and ran to help with a battle cry, finishing those on the ground and any that came too close. As her vision returned, she became more aggressive. Within minutes, she and her benefactor had cleared the park of the creatures.
Turning to the person to give her thanks, she stopped, mouth agape: He did have wings! And a red mask with a long, pointed nose, as well – a tengu! Motoko brought her katana to a ready stance once more, praying she had the energy for one more battle.
The tengu merely sheathed its own sword – a straight blade of western design – and bowed to her. "I apologize," it said, then took to the sky and flew away before she could respond, hawk's wings spread wide.
Motoko stared after it. Why would a youkai help a human? She was unable to fathom it.
Whimpering drew her attention to the others, huddled on the ground. The little boy began crying as his mother tried to comfort him.
Motoko thrust her questions aside. She had more important things to worry about at the moment.
Ami joined the others at one of the diner's tables, after first making sure that the wood-and-metal door was securely locked. They'd already drawn down the blinds at her insistence. Officially, it was to keep the meeting secret. Unofficially, she had no desire to risk allowing any of the inevitable ensuing stupidity to be caught on camera.
"So, you want to join us, right?" Usagi began the meeting, pushing the abandoned plates of food out of the way. "Well… We could use the help…"
"We could use experienced help," Makoto corrected. "The little we've seen you two do hasn't been all that impressive."
"Aww, you just caught us at a bad time, is all. You should have seen us last night!" Sailor Fusion assured them.
"You mean when you let those youma get away?" Makoto pointed out.
"Well… You're always supposed to let the bad guy get away the first time, you know?"
"What?" Ami asked, incredulous. "Who told you that? If they get away, they just come back later and hurt more people."
"Nah, I could tell that they weren't trying to hurt anyone. 'Cept us, of course."
The Tempest Ranger spoke up, "Actually, I think she's right about that. Those three could have hurt a lot of people if they wanted to…"
"Regardless!" Makoto cut them off. "They might hurt people next time! You just can't trust a youma."
"Youkai."
"Eh?"
"Um, they're youkai, not youma." Tempest shrugged at their befuddled expressions, his masked face belying no emotions. "When they introduced themselves, they called themselves 'youkai.' I don't even know what a youma is, but I'm certain these things aren't them." He awkwardly put a hand on the back of his helmet.
"Youkai, youma, simple semantics. Maybe they're just some new type."
"Well, there's, um, also one other thing."
"Like…?"
"Well, they also don't look like any youma you've probably faced before."
Makoto looked at him suspiciously. "And how would you know that?"
Tempest fidgeted with his hands. The room was silent until Fusion squealed giddily and slapped her cheeks. "Eee! You read them! You actually read them!"
Usagi swung her head back and forth between the two probationary heroes. "Read what?"
"I only glanced!" Tempest blurted out. He waved his hands frantically. "You wouldn't leave me alone until you shoved nearly your entire collection at me!"
"What is he talking about?"
"Your fanzines!" Fusion explained.
"…our what?"
"Your fanzines! I have all of them! Or at least most of them. Well, except for the really mature-rated ones. Those got destroyed when Naru-yan found them on Tempest."
"Ix-nay on the identities-ay!"
Usagi looked at Ami. "We have fanzines?"
"I…guess…?" She turned back to Tempest. "But what does that have to do with anything? And why does it prove that these 'youkai' aren't youma?"
"Well, it doesn't, I mean it doesn't exactly, that is to say I don't-"
"Spit it out, man!"
Tempest placed his hands on his knees, gripped them tightly, and ground out, "All photos of you fighting show youma as humanoid thingies! Female humanoid thingies! Naked female humanoid thingies! Naked female humanoid thingies that look more like they belong in fetish magazines than like soul-devouring monsters! Ah, please don't hit me!" He looped both arms above his helmet and ducked down, trying to show as least of his body as he could.
Usagi tilted her head and put a finger to her lips. "Actually, we do fight some pretty kinky-looking youma. Remember the one that was made out of ivy and…" She was cut off when Ami and Makoto each slapped a hand over her mouth.
Makoto laughed, her face strained. "Haha, well, Moon has a point there, so maybe we should give this a little more thought. I mean, it's not like it could hurt to do a little research." She glanced over to Ami. "Right?"
Before she could respond, a raspy voice echoed from outside the diner. "Senshi~i! Oh, senshi~i! Where a~are yo~ou? Come out and pla~ay"
"What the…" Usagi went over to the window and peered through the blinds. "An umbrella?"
Ami and the rest joined her, looking out into the street. An umbrella-like youma was pogoing down the street on its bamboo pole, its single huge eye peering from its red 'body' in all directions as its over-sized tongue lolled. Something about the situation bothered Ami.
"I know you're around here so~omewhe~ere!"
"…I think that's the most ridiculous youma I've ever seen," Makoto whispered.
"Wait…" Suddenly, Ami knew what was bothering her. She beckoned the others to a table and materialized her Mercury Computer. After a few seconds of searching, her suspicions were confirmed, and she turned the screen so the others could see it. "That's something from folk-lore, a Karakasa! Sort of like… an umbrella that's come to life." An idea occurred to her, and she drew her friends in closer.
"Those things are supposed to be really weak," she whispered to them. "Why don't we send these two out to fight it, and see how they do?"
"I don't know…" Usagi said, uncertain. "What if they get hurt?"
"Then we'll be right here to step in," Ami assured her. "And if they have trouble with something like this, then they definitely shouldn't be doing this."
"I'm all for it!" Makoto agreed.
"Well… Alright."
The three of them got out of their huddle, and Usagi addressed the two probationary heroes. "OK, you two, here's your test: Go out there and defeat that youma!"
"Right!" Sailor Fusion yelled, dashing for the door. The Tempest Ranger followed more slowly after her.
An explosion outside immediately rocked the building.
"Are you sure this will be OK?" Usagi asked, worried.
Ami dematerialized her computer. "Look, unless they blow themselves up, they're in no real danger. The folk-lore couldn't be that wrong, could it?"
They started towards the window again. A scream from outside caught their attention, and Tempest dashed back through the door, Fusion clutched in his arms. He slammed the door shut again, panting, and barricaded it with his body. Grating laughter could be heard from outside.
"Really?" Makoto asked with a hint of a mocking tone. "You had trouble with something that easy?"
"You call something like that 'easy'?" he demanded, still clutching his struggling comrade.
"Well, yeah, Mercury-"
Something red sawed through the door – metal and all – a hairs-breadth above his helmet.
"-has apparently underestimated the thing."
The terrified ranger dove away from the door as the youma slammed into it and an enormous dent appeared. One more slam, and the door broke off its hinges, falling inwards and snapping where it had been sawed through.
"Heeeeere's Yori!" the karakasa crowed. It shot through the air towards Makoto, spinning like a drill. The brunette threw herself to the floor and the youma sailed over her, hitting the counter at the back of the diner – and ripping through it as easily as if it were made of paper.
Usagi tossed her tiara after it, but just before it hit the youma swung around like a baseball bat, smacking it away and into Tempest's head. The glowing disk ricocheted widely around the room, tearing up furniture and forcing Ami, Usagi, and Fusion to join the other two on the floor, lest they get hit as well.
"He~ey! It's no fun if you kill yourse~elves!" the karakasa mocked, hopping gleefully on the remains of the counter. It smacked the tiara again as it zipped past him, sending it flying straight for Usagi's head. The blonde managed to snatch it out of the air, however, and Ami grabbed the opportunity.
"Shabon Spray!" The diner filled with a spray of mist and bubbles. She started crawling towards the exit, silently motioning the others to do the same as the youma looked around blindly.
Then she realized that Tempest and Fusion couldn't see through it either. A loud crunch from her left drove that point home as Tempest stumbled into a table, overturning it and noisily spilling its contents on the floor. The youma instantly focused on his location, readying itself for another drill attack.
Thinking quickly, Ami knocked another table into its path as it shot forwards. It didn't stop the thing, but it did alter the karakasa's path enough to protect Tempest. As the youma came to a stop and tried to reorient itself, Ami grabbed a nearby fallen salt-shaker and pitched it at the far wall, where it shattered.
"Found yo~ou!" It crooned, and set off towards the noise – this time spinning like a top rather than a drill. The mist swirled and parted in its wake.
Ami started to crawl over to Tempest, but was beaten to it by Fusion. Once the short girl reached him, she quickly tapped his helmet a few times, and drew him towards the door. They both seemed to be able to see now, so Ami followed after them. A few feet from the door, Fusion paused, whispering, and rolled a metal orb past Ami and towards the confused youma. Ami and Tempest quickened their paces.
She emerged from the mist, exiting the diner hot on their heels and immediately regaining her feet to dash away from it. Yet another explosion shook the building, not quite drowning out the shrill scream from within. What was left of the diner's window shattered outwards in a rain of glass and random debris as the mist dissipated in the blast.
"That's got it!" declared Fusion, giving the victory sign. "The Fusion Mega Flare can't be beat!"
Makoto rubbed her temples. "Did you have to completely destroy that place?" she asked.
"Aw, it's not like it wasn't destroyed already after what Moon did."
"Hey!" whined the blonde. "How was I supposed to kn-"
"You are very annoying! What fu~un!" The karakasa hopped out the shattered window, apparently unharmed. It began spinning like a top through the air again, aiming for the gathered heroes.
Tempest put his hands to his face, shouting "Don't you dare!" His voice came out strangely amplified and distorted, and an unseen wave picked up the dust and smaller debris, blowing it along. When it reached the youma, the thing faltered, wobbling in place.
Not letting the opportunity go to waste, Makoto's tiara crackled with electricity as she shouted "Supreme Thunder!" at the same time that Fusion yelled "Fusion Fire Pillar!" and tossed a disc at the ground beneath the youma. It snapped its shade shut as lightning struck it from in front and an upward blast caught it from below.
It burst from the cloud of smoke in another drilling charge, and the five of them scattered in all directions. As it turned for another dash, Tempest thrust his hands towards it, and twin jets of water shot out in short bursts. The first few missed, striking the street and buildings with enough force to break pieces off.
Seeing the destruction, the karakasa broke off its next attack, instead opening its shade and leaning forward like a shield. Any water blasts that hit it ricocheted harmlessly off in random directions as it spun.
With it distracted once more, Ami dashed around it. With a yell of "Shine Aqua Illusion!" she sent a ghostly ball of water at the ground under the youma. A pillar of water burst upwards, catching it and sending it high into the air. Usagi took off her tiara, getting ready to finish it off.
Suddenly, the youma began to glow and spin, tilting around wildly as it laughed. Blades of energy flew in all directions, slicing into the street and buildings alike. Usagi lost a few inches off of one of her pigtails as she barely dodged aside.
The five of them took cover wherever they could; Ami and Fusion ended up crouching together around the corner of a nearby building. The short blonde pulled a backpack from behind a dumpster and started rooting around in it.
"What are you doing?" Ami asked her, not quite believing that she'd take the time to loot.
"Deploying my secret weapon!" she said simply. She smiled, finding what she wanted, and pulled out…
…A mechanical turtle in a fuku?
"Sailor Mecha Tamago Mark 3, Attack!" She threw it into the air. Ami gaped as twin jets burst from it, and it flew towards the rampaging youma, deftly dodging around blades of energy and ramming it out of the sky.
For some reason, Fusion looked disappointed. "Aw, it was supposed to shoot machineguns and stuff. They must have jammed."
With that, the turtle exploded. Somehow, Ami wasn't surprised.
The force of the blast sent the karakasa hurtling towards ground near Tempest's hiding spot. He immediately jumped on it, attempting to pin it. It managed to wriggle free of his grasp, however, and turned to slice its would-be captor.
Makoto hit it with another blast of lightning before it had the chance, this time catching it with its shade open. Tempest sent another vocal shockwave at it while it was stunned, bowling it down the street, where Fusion threw another bomb at it. It managed to snap shut just in time, but was blown skywards once more.
All of them immediately began pelting it with every attack that could reach it, and – though it managed to dodge or deflect everything – it flew off higher into the sky and away from them, spinning with its shade open. Usagi took careful aim and threw her tiara at one last time, the glowing disc zooming straight for it.
Just before it hit, the shade snapped shut, and the tiara bounced harmlessly off of it, heading back towards its wielder. The karakasa continued its retreat unhindered.
The group stood in the street, panting, both exhilarated at having won and disappointed that they couldn't finish the thing off. Fusion turned to the three senshi, face beaming, and demanded, "So, did we pass? We did, didn't we? Oh, don't tell me we failed. I keep telling Tempest to yell out his attack names, but he never listens, and-"
She continued chattering excitedly for several minutes before Usagi managed to break in. "Uh… Look, just… give us a bit to discuss it with the rest of the Sailor Senshi, OK? We'll meet you at… uh… Hachiko's statue at three tomorrow."
"Yay!" Fusion started bouncing in place before launching herself at Tempest and wrapping around him in a painful-looking hug. "That means yes! That totally means yes!"
"We're going to head out, now," Makoto announced, turning to stride away and pulling her friends along with her. "You two should head home."
"Oka~ay!" Fusion waved at them as they left.
Once they were out of ear-shot, Makoto spoke up. "What do you think? Should we really let them join us?"
"They certainly are inexperienced," Ami answered thoughtfully. "But we should probably keep them close, at least so we can keep an eye on them."
Usagi crossed her arms "I don't see a problem with it. I mean, we might have lost if they weren't there."
"Or we might have defeated it while it was still wandering around in the mist," Makoto asserted.
They continued their debate as they strode down the street.
"It's gonna be so much fun! Oh, can you imagine it? We'll be fighting side by side with the famous Sailor Senshi!"
"I think we just did," Tempest answered as they changed back into their regular outfits. "And they haven't said yes yet."
"Party-pooper!" Fusion stuck her tongue out at him.
"…By the way, how did you manage to build another Tamago so quickly?"
"Oh, that? I'd built it a while ago. I just stuck a uniform on it." She frowned. "And now I have to start all over again, too…"
The two continued their conversation as they left, never noticing the black form stalking behind them. When they boarded a train, she leapt onto its roof and clung on for dear life; it was worth any risk to find out what they were really up to.
Finally, they climbed up the stairs to old inn and went inside. Luna gave a small smile. She'd learned many things this night – who they were, where they lived, even the secret behind some of their 'powers'. She hadn't learned they're true motivations though, as they were apparently too paranoid to reveal them even when they thought themselves alone.
Still, what she had learned was a start, and a good one at that. Now she just had to pass the information onto someone more capable than she at dealing with… problems.
She nearly collapsed in tears when she realized she'd need to take the train again to get back.
Author's Notes
And there's the second chapter done. This took way longer to finish than I thought it would, largely because the semester started. Still fairly short, too; apparently, that's just my writing style.
There's a section of dialogue between the senshi and Keitaro & Su that was written by Irritus due to severe writers block on my part. See if you can spot it!
Also, in case it wasn't clear, Motoko's and Keitaro's scenes are happening at about the same time.
UPDATE: Changed the attack names to Japanese, fixed a typo-induced plothole, threw in a bit of Oni language, and generally fixed up the writing.
New Youkai
Rakshasa – OK, I'll admit this one's cheating. Humanoid Tibetan monsters from Bhuddist legends that attack and eat humans, have poisonous nails, and can use magic and illusions. Why are they in Japan? Perhaps they immigrated.
Tengu – A Humanoid youkai with bird wings. Can create whirlwinds with a maple-leaf fan.
Karakasa-Obake – A bamboo umbrella which has existed for 100 years and gained life. Tend to fly/hop around and scare people. A specific kind of Tsukumo-gami, which is any object which has gained life through long existence. As you can probably tell, I gave this one a rather extreme power-up.