Act 3: Whirling Battle over Smallville
Kagura descended down in her lighter-than-air feather and stood up to face the opposition. She looked over at the red-headed half-demon Talim, next to the familiar presence of the priestess Kikyo, then last at the boy who called himself Superboy, apparently famous around these parts. She extended her fans, the devices she used to manipulate the winds and smirked.
"Ok, so you want to start this now?" she asked.
"You're outnumbered. Leave while you still can." warned Conner in a usual superhero fashion.
"Don't underestimate her power, friends. She has beaten very powerful people before, even companies larger than ours." explained Kikyo.
"The miko's right, kids. You might wanna be careful when you mess with me." Kagura said as she smiled a bit.
"Oh yeah?" said Talim as she fired a blast straight for Kagura.
The blast bypassed her by a large margin. Kagura smiled evilly and confidently.
"Fine then, it's my turn." said Kagura as she let loose her Dance of the Wind Blades. The three kids all jumped away to avoid the attack, but the force of the winds had knocked them off course. By the time it was over, Conner was in the air, Kikyo was in a tree and Talim was on the ground a few yards away.
"Easy." Kagura said with the outmost confidence. Talim got off the ground, dusted herself off and dashed at full speed towards Kagura. Naraku's incarnation jumped away and fired her tornado attack, whipping Talim away again. Kagura jumped on her feather and flew high into the sky, only to be met by Conner's attacks.
"Superboy, is it?" asked Kagura as she dodged his attacks.
"What's it to ya, lady?" he answered.
"Nothing, just wonde—OOF!"
Kagura fell to the ground after being punched by Conner. Immediately, a flying, glowing Sacred Arrow sent by Kikyo hit the ground near Kagura and sent her flying. She regained her footing on the feather.
"Nice going!" Kagura congratulated them as she clapped her hands "Very nice going."
Kikyo, Conner and Talim stared up at her, planning what to do next. As they did, three tornadoes came down and each took one of them, spinning them in great circles. Conner, being the only who could fly, managed to escape the funnels and immediately pressed an attack on Kagura. She was taken by surprise and knocked away, ending the tornado attack. The two girls flew down towards the ground. Talim made a little flip and landed on all fours. Kikyo, a bit shaken, landed into the waiting arms of Conner.
"Got you, Miss." he said while smiling.
Kikyo, a bit shocked, smiled back at him and you probably could've seen a hint of blush. He let her down gently and immediately raised her bow and arrow. Kagura, made as ever, unleashed a powerful wind attack at Talim, knocking her right into a lake. Kikyo launched her arrow but was blown away by the winds that Kagura conjured up. Then it was Conner's turn to attack as he raced at Kagura at high speeds, only to be launched into the air again.
"Nice try, kids. As long as I have my wind powers, nobody can touch me." Kagura boasted.
As soon as she finished her sentence, Kikyo's Sacred Arrow ripped through the ground under her and sent her flying. Conner took the opportunity to send her back into the ground to be finally blasted by Talim. As the smoke cleared, Kagura stood up in her tattered clothes. They were about to attack again when several bee-like insects dropped out of the sky and swarmed Kagura.
"Naraku's poison insects!" said Kikyo with surprise.
"What…?" Conner said bewildered.
Kagura's signature feather popped open and drifted into the sky along with the insects. Before leaving, she cried, "Nice time having fun with you, kids! Bye!" and soon she was out of sight.
Meanwhile, the three teenagers took a rest from their first team fight. Talim, fussing over that she hadn't pounded Kagura's face into the ground, didn't notice the small conversation between Conner and Kikyo.
"Thank you for saving me, Conner." Kikyo said quietly as she sat next to Conner.
"Oh, no problem, Kik." he said to her.
She seemed to be taken aback by what he had called her. Nobody in her entire lifetimes had called her a nickname other than "Lady" or "Priestess." She truly knew she was in a different time with different people. The girl was foolhardy, but devoted. The boy was full of good intentions and teenage angst. She felt old among them but hoped that will soon change.
"You are very powerful. You were graced with incredible powers, Conner and you use them well." Kikyo complemented him.
"Hey, I could say the same about you." said Conner as he returned the complement.
"DANG! DANG! DANG IT ALL! I had her and I blew it!" yelled Talim in a fury. She stomped the ground, making a small hole.
"Talim, you gotta chill. We'll get her next time." Conner tried to console her.
"He is right. Undoubtedly, it was not her true fight. I believe Naraku wanted to gauge our combined powers so he can have an advantage." explained Kikyo.
"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Talim.
"Well, obviously he's gonna kill us, so he needs to be absolutely sure about what we can do." Conner told her.
"Then we'd better start planning on some strategies. But for now, I'm hungry." said Talim as her stomach grumbled.
"Yes, I must admit that conflict did render me hungry." said Kikyo.
The priestess stood up and as she did, a big rip the size of a bowling ball was shown on the bottom part of her kimono. Conner looked away as Talim inspected it.
"Wow, you certainly were lucky, weren't we?" she said, tugging at it.
"These are my only clothes…" Kikyo said with a worried tone.
"Nothing to fear, my dear! This is the perfect opportunity to introduce you to Twenty-First Century culture! And what better place to start than the mall?" Talim said excitedly as she jumped up, taking Kikyo along with her.
"The what?" the confused priestess asked.
"The mall is where people from all around town come together and…well, you'll see when we get there."
"Well, ok then. If you say so." Kikyo said unsure.
"Hey, Superboy, are you coming?" Talim asked him.
"Uhhhh…I suppose I will…" he said.
"Great, let's go!" Talim said as she grabbed both of them and teleported.
After a small flash of light, the three appeared in a bleak alley. At first confused, Conner finally realized where they were.
"Great. Nice going, Talim." Conner said sneering at Talim.
"Hey, it's kinda hard to control, ya know." she said defending herself.
"Yeah sure, ok. Anyways, we're about a block away from the Metropolis Mall, so we can walk there."
As they walked out, Kikyo stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened with awe as she looked up at the massive skyscrapers. "Wow…" she said.
"Heh, almost forgot that she's never been in a city before, let alone a metropolis. Hey, Kikyo, you wanna see the entire city?" asked Conner.
Kikyo paused for a second and nodded. Conner picked her up and floated to the top of the nearest skyscraper. Awe took over Kikyo as she looked upon the city of Metropolis. He turned back to Conner was he eyed the Daily Planet building.
"Do you live here?" she asked him.
"Nah, I used to. But now I live back in Smallville." he answered.
"How many people live here?"
"About 12 million."
Her jaw dropped and she sighed. "You live in a magnificent time, Conner."
"I guess. We should get going." He picked up Kikyo and floated down to find Talim was already on her way to the mall.
"Here we are!" said Talim as they stopped outside a very large girl's fashion store. Kikyo looked at the windows then at the name of the store, which she obviously couldn't read.
"I'm not sure if I'm ready for…" started Kikyo but was then interrupted by Talim.
"Nonsense! Of course you're ready!" Talim wildly as she dragged her into the store.
"Right…" said Superboy, turning his heel and walked towards the arcade. About an hour later, after Conner lost all of his tokens on the driving machine, he returned to the store. Of course, he didn't go inside, but rather waited outside for the two girls to emerge.
A few minutes later, Talim came out alone and stood by the door with a very light smile on her face, as if to conceal a bigger smile trying to dig its way out.
"So?" asked Conner.
"I present to you, the new and improved Kikyo for the Twenty-First Century!" Talim exclaimed as she stepped out of the way for Kikyo.
Kikyo exited the store wearing low-cut red jeans and a white cloth tube-top. Her hair had been brushed back to remove any impediments of view. Kikyo lowered her head a little bit and looked at Conner.
"Whoa…" said Superboy, totally speechless at what he was witnessing. The girl was beautiful! Very beautiful! After a minute of staring, he smiled and got up. Kikyo blushed a little bit and said quietly, "What do you think?"
"You look nice." Conner muttered out. Kikyo blushed even more and nodded.
"Ok, anyways! We've got work to do! We've got to track down Naraku and…hey!" yelled Talim as the two continued to talk.
"Chill, Talim. We always have tomorrow." said Conner
Kagura, the wind sorceress, landed gently outside of Naraku's cave and peered inside. She swallowed hard and walked inside. As she looked, the cave was littered with pulsating chunks of multicolored flesh. They seemed to be connected to one source. Kagura followed the fleshy strands until she found Naraku, nearly bodiless if it weren't for the tentacle and other organs sticking out of his head. The powerful half-demon looked tired and exhausted with his eyes drooping ever so slowly to the ground. They instantly came up when Kagura entered.
"Weak, are we?" joked Kagura.
"Did you get what I needed?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you need me to do it?"
Naraku rose a little bit to tower over Kagura and said, "They are powerful together and I don't have the strength to separate them just yet. So I needed you to analyze their fighting skills. "
"Heh, why? I would've beaten them if you hadn't yanked me out of the fight."
"Each of the three has a unique quality that will soon be shown as they spend more time with each other. By the time we confront them, they will be mighty. We have to resume our hunt."
"For what?"
He looked at her with stone cold eyes. Then a tentacle shot out from Naraku to Kagura's head, digging deep into her temple. The tentacle pulsated as Kagura's eyes widened and made gurgling sounds.
"The Shikon Jewel, Kagura. I must have it if I am to destroy Kikyo and Superboy and bring in my bounty of one dead girl named Talim. That fool Darkseid doesn't know what power is in the complete jewel. As soon as I'm done with the kids, I will travel to his planet and defeat him. Using his world's resources, I will then conquer this world!" Naraku explained as his appendage drove itself out of Kagura's head and reentered Naraku's fleshy body.
Kagura shook her head and touched her temple. She eyed him and spat.
"Good plan, using the jewel to destroy those on earth, then the big guy on Apokolips. Of course, you've had centuries to plan this out."
"They are a very formidable team," said Naraku, analyzing what Kagura saw when she fought the trio "I will have to be careful. In the meantime, Kagura, keep an eye on them."
Kagura sighed and whipped around only to come head-to-hip with Kanna.
"Oh, and if you ever think about rebelling against me again, I will send you to a place far worse than death." said the exhausted Naraku.
Kagura sighed deeply as she escaped the reflection in Kanna's mirror and walked into the darkening sky.