"PHOENIX GENMA KEN!"

Under most circumstances, no matter the strength or supposed godhood of the victim, Ikki's Phoenix Genma Ken spelled irrevocable doom. An attack that targeted the brain of the opponent, Ikki used his fist's cosmo to manipulate an enemy's nervous system, sending him into a spiral of their worst nightmares until they literally died of fright, or were put in a coma if they were lucky. In theory, a single Golem Trooper would prove absolutely no challenge given that the move had felled opponents who otherwise outclassed the Phoenix Saint.

In practice, it left much to be desired. The Golem Trooper, upon being struck, shuddered for a few moments, and then turned around to deliver a spiked slip to Ikki's head. Ikki growled in pain as the thorns scratched his forehead and drew forth a streak of red, and the second slap skid across his armor to unleash a spray of sparks. Quickly backing off, Ikki assumed a defensive stance and grabbed the Golem's attacking arm before driving his elbow into his face as hard as he could. "Sailor Mars," he shouted to his fiery Senshi counterpart. "Explain why this Golem is not dead!"

"You have to target the flowers," Rei shouted back before summoning a pillar of fire to keep a pack of Spectre Pures from swarming upon her before she dealt with the Golem Trooper currently attacking her. Grabbing onto the humanoid flower embedded in the Golem's chest, Mars ripped it out of its roots and set it ablaze, where it shrieked in pain before falling pathetically silent. Without the flower controlling it or holding its body together, the Golem crumbled into pieces. "The Golem Troopers have been hollowed out by those flowers. Take them out, and their bodies will fall apart!"

Ikki turned back to the Golem that scratched him and noticed the flower Rei spoke of. He then promptly set it ablaze. Watching the vines jutting out of the Golem's head and body burst into flame in a chain reaction held a sadistic interest for Ikki, and he took a moment to admire his handiwork before turning to the other Golem Troopers with a cruel grin. "Thanks for the tip. This is going to be fun!"

"Now help me out," Rei snapped back as she kicked a Spectre Pure in the chest with a snapping leg, only for a blast of pain to be shot through her foot thanks to the mystic metal armor the Spectres wore. "What do I have to do to keep these zombies down for the count?"

"Destroy the masks," Ikki said curtly. "Without those masks, they're just empty shells."

Thankfully, Rei had just the technique to deal with situations like this. Summoning a handful of talismans that she would use for exorcisms as a priestess, Rei slapped one on each of the five Spectre Pures surrounding her and infused them with her spirit energy. Once they were on securely, Sailor Mars muttered a quick incantation before opening her eyes just as the five of them were going to attack her simultaneously.

"ARUKYO TAI SAN!"

The talismans exploded in a blast of fire, shattering the black masks of the Spectre Pures into thousands of crystalline pieces that forced Sailor Mars to lift her hands up to prevent the shrapnel from flying into her eyes and mouth. As she lowered her arms, she saw the unmasked Spectre Pures convulse violently, revealing their fresh skulls before they collapsed onto the ground lifeless and dissolved into foam.

More Golem Troopers and Spectre Pures charged forward, but now that Ikki and Rei knew both of their weaknesses, the threat they posed was greatly diminished. With his fists and feet burning with his cosmo, Ikki set the Golem Troopers ablaze with rapid punches, strong kicks, and the occasional uprooting of the flowers so that he could hear its death screams and watch the Golems crumble to pieces. For the Spectre Pures, Ikki only needed to shatter their black masks, which he had done many times in the past.

Even though they were allies, Rei was still quite uncomfortable around Ikki and his insatiable lust for violence, but she didn't really have much room to talk as she engulfed the Golem Tropers in flames while shattering the masks of the Spectre Pures with snapping kicks and the occasional punch. One Spectre Pure and Golem Trooper decided to attack her at the same time, so she drove her knee into the Spectre Pure's mask and then unleashed a jet of flame to incinerate the Xenian flower on the Golem Trooper before she even had a chance to fall back onto the ground.

Once they finally had some room to breathe, Ikki and Rei accidentally bumped into each other from behind, prompting them to turn around quickly and assume a fighting position with their respective energies ready to set the opponent aflame. Yet even when they realized it was each other they bumped into, they didn't immediately calm down, and only exchanged an intense stare...and then, they smirked at each other.

Both of them were fully aware of what the other one wanted to do to the other for what happened at the Saitama Mall, even though Saori had purified the psychic virus they were infected with. But for now, they turned the other way and went back to work on the legion of grunts that their enemies idiotically thought would do anything to them other than to make them angry.

-

"It's +60 on BLOCK!?"

"Mm," Ami nodded her head in between swatting a Spectre Pure in the face so hard that it left a noticable crack in its protective mask. "If you block both attacks, it leads to a guard break and then I can throw or do a mix-up. The only way you can stop it is if you parry!"

"That's ridiculous, but I believe you," Hyoga balked as he delivered an elbow to the face of a Golem Trooper before sending another sprawling away with a thrust kick. "Most games get patched in a few months, but Soul Calibur is a game that was just left as is so all kinds of crazy nonsense are there for players to exploit."

"This-NNGH-may surprise you," Ami turned around to strike the Spectre Pure that attacked her from behind with a spinning roundhouse kick, instantly shattering the mask and turning it into a puddle of goo, "but I just play games to unwind and because my friends encourage me to keep doing it. I'm more focused on my career as a doctor, and I I just so happen to have good hands that help me in the operating room and on the cabinets."

Hyoga chuckled as he grabbed onto one of the Golem Trooper's flowers and froze it solid before chopping it off with his hand and watching the Golem fall to the ground on its knees. Once it flopped onto its belly, Hyoga placed his foot on top of its back and then fended off the other Golems and Spectres attacking him. "Just admit that you like the competition. You love testing yourself and the feeling you get when you pass that test, so you go to the arcade after work and start handing out losses left and right."

Ami smashed the mask of a Spectre Pure with a forward punch and and blasted another one with a back elbow smash from the attacking arm. With those two enemies dealt with, Ami focused her watery energy in her hands and unleashed a stream of highly pressurized bubbles onto a pack of Golem Troopers who then fell over on top of one another. "MERCURY AQUA BLIZZARD," Ami shouted as she brought a harsh winter onto the flowers of those golems and caused them to harden with a thick coating of ice. The Golems squirmed along with the frozen flower's dying thrones, and then crumbled into pieces as the flower's vines died along with the source.

"You were a straight A student, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," Ami nodded her head before widening her eyes and unleashing another blast of snow, this time behind Hyoga so that she could freeze the body of a Spectre Pure that was planning to attack him from behind while he had his hands full with a pair of flowers still attached to the Golems that failed to take him down. The blast instantly froze and shattered the Spectre Pure's mask, and it collapsed over Hyoga's shoulder who quickly brushed him off before destroying the flowers and defeating the two Golems.

"And I take it straight A's felt good? It made you feel empowered, didn't it?"

"No. I got straight A's because it's what my mother wanted of me. I buried myself into my studies until Usagi and the others showed me there was more to life than studying," Ami replied as she summoned her scimitar of sapphire metal and started cutting down the enemies around her. "It's the same reason I go to the Crown. I don't want to prove my dominance or anything like that. I just want to meet new people and become friends with them."

"A person's worth is only known if you bring them to their limit," Hyoga stated in between smashing heads with his freezing cosmo humming in his fists, bringing an icy clobbering to the Spectres and Golems on his side. ""If both competitors are pushed to their extremes, they'll know what lies in the heart of the other. I know you're a kind-hearted person because I pushed you to your limit at the arcade and on the battlefield. What do you think of me?"

Ami sliced off a pair of flowers and cut another mask in two before replying. "I think you enjoy pushing your limits and expect the people you meet to do the same. I don't think I could live like that: there's too many people counting on me. If I lost myself like that while I was doing surgery, someone could get hurt."

"And that's why-HIYAH-I probably won't become a doctor," Hyoga shattered three frozen Golems with a spinning kick before exhaling and walking over to Ami as she finished up her end of the foot soldiers. "I don't want anyone to suffer if they're not willing to play my game. I spent most of my life training to be a Saint so I'm not sure what I'll do once I'm finished with my duties. Maybe I'll try my hand at extreme sports: the snowcaps of West Siberia are-eh?"

Hyoga and Ami felt something shift between their feet, and looked down to see the puddles of foam and clay slowly flowing underneath them. Quickly jumping away, Ami and Hyoga focused their icy power in case there was an attack, but noticed that the puddles weren't interested in them...at least yet. At the moment, they seemed to be flowing away from them as if they were retreating.

"...have they ever done that before?"

"No," Hyoga's expression hardened as they watched the last of the mook flow away from them. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

-

"I knew you and I were meant to be, baby," Deathmask stroked his chin as he dodged Sailor Pluto's attacks from her staff, not concerned that it contained the power of time and space and even one strike could have unfathomable consequences on his existence. "From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were going to give me the time of my life. This is pretty fun, y'know?"

"Pig," Sailor Pluto pulled her staff back and struck Deathmask in the chest with the tip of her weapon. Deathmask breathed a sigh of relief when his body didn't immediately turn inside-out or fade from reality like he worried about, but he figured the way the crystal at the top of the staff flashed would have the consequence he was initially expected. "There's no place for you in this or any world! It's time for you to-OOF!"

Deathmask silenced Pluto with a swift kick to her stomach, followed by a spinning backhand that sent her stumbling away and using her staff to keep herself standing, "It's time for me to have some fun, I agree 100%!" With a snap of his fingers, Deathmask summoned an awful howling noise preceding the manifestation of several sparkles of blue fire that hovered around his person. "But what fun would a party be without my friends? Butter her up for me, boys and girls!"

The howling sparks charged towards the guardian of time and space, and she found herself on the defensive dodging and weaving the fire. "This energy...these are the spirits of the people you've killed," Sailor Pluto rolled forward and charged Deathmask with her staff raised for a bludgeoning he wouldn't soon forget. "You dare flaunt the weight of your sins at me? Who do you think you are?"

"SEKISHIKI MEIKAI HA!"

Unfortunately, it was exactly what Deathmask was hoping she'd do. With his hand glowing with power, Deathmask cut the air vertically and opened a tear in time and space. Sailor Pluto had formed a number of them herself in her past, present, and future life, but it was too late for her to do anything but get sucked in. With the portal closing behind Pluto, Deathmask chuckled deviously before turning to his former comrade Mu, who was having problems of his own with Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. "Be right back, Aries! I'm about to go steal your girl!"

"SETSUNA," Mu shouted as Deathmask jumped into one of his own portals, just as Uranus punched him in the face and sent him stumbling backwards.

By the time Mu stopped seeing stars, Uranus and Neptune had already gotten into position to unleashed their most powerful attacks on him. Feeling their cosmo reach their limit and not entirely sure his armor would fully protect him, Aries Mu quickly focused his own cosmo for defensive measures.

"URANUS WORLD SHAKER!"

"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"

With two orbs of concentrated power rocketed towards him on either side, each one with sufficient power to put him down for the count, Mu opened his eyes and erected his defense: a pair of transparent barriers that caught the blasts with a loud crackling sound coming from each point of impact. After a few seconds of struggling, Mu exerted himself once more and sent both blasts rocketing back towards their wielders. When the duo dodged the counter, a massive explosion rocked the city as the attacks detonated in a couple of shops, collapsing the buildings as if they were made of twigs.

"You know, my parents used to shop at that toy store when I was younger," Michiru clamored as she and Haruka double-teamed Mu. "Think of all of the children you've made sad just now!"
"My company engages in charity work. I'll begin my contributions to repairing the damage tomorrow," Mu replied before sending Michiru sprawling away with a thrust of his cosmo-infused palm. However, he was not quick enough to stop Haruka from wrapping his arms around his head and attempt to choke him out with a sleeper hold. "NGH! You don't seem worried...about your friend!"

"You mean Setsuna?" Uranus said with a smirk even though Mu managed to force himself out of her hold. "You should be more worried about your pig of a friend Deathmask. Setsuna's not locked in that dimension with him...he's locked in that dimension with her."

-

"WA-TAAAAH!"

With Shiryu executing his flying kick to the face of the Spectre Pure, Makoto planted the defeated grunt into the ground with a powerbomb before latching onto the next Golem Trooper and placing it in a submission hold while Shiryu pulverized it with his fists. "So, Shiryu," Makoto said to her ally as he punched his fist through the Golem and obliterated the flower controlling it. "You said you've seen some of my fights? Which one is your favorite?"

"The one you had two months ago at the Budokan was very entertaining," Shiryu waited for Makoto to toss the defeated Golem aside before punching over her shoulder to obliterate the mask of a Spectre Pure, while Makoto did the same over his. Placing their backs against one another to deal with the next wave, Shiryu continued his critique while Makoto listened carefully. "You have amazing strikes, but you don't seem to use them much in the ring? Any reason why?"

"I've always had trouble holding back, especially now that I'm a Senshi again," Makoto explained as she fired off a bolt of lightning to electrocute five of the Golem Hei, keeping the voltage at his maximum until the Golem's Xenian flowers burst into flame along with the vines attached to the body. "Ever since this new enemy appeared, I've been the strongest I've ever been. It's gotten to a point where I'm afraid I could seriously hurt my opponent."

"A-CHA! Isn't that the entire point of mixed martial arts? You win by knockout, tapout, or decision. You're trying to be the champ, right?"

Covering for Shiryu as he swatted away the punch of a Spectre Pure and shattered its mask with a single jab of his hand, Makoto did the same to another Spectre Pure with an electrified chop that not only smashed the mask, but the skull underneath. "I want to be champion, but my powers have increased so much that if I go all out in the ring, I'll wind up being that one fighter who killed her opponent in the ring. Even if they know the risks, I don't want that blood on my hands."

"Then your training is incomplete," Shiryu tapped Makoto on the shoulder, and she instinctively ducked so that Shiryu could executing a spinning kick that cleared the mob around them. As the grunts lay on the ground writhing, the Dragon Saint faced Sailor Jupiter and showed her his crackling fist. "Master Dohko told me that there are two kinds of fists in battle: the Fist that Destroys Everything, and the Fist that Achieves Victory."

"I see," Makoto nodded her head before her eyes widened, signaling for Shiryu to duck as she annihilated a Spectre Pure with a Jupiter Lightning Lariat. "So they're not the same? We always talk about becoming the strongest. I guess you're talking about the ability to reach the mountaintop and then finding a way to control the results of your training."

Once Makoto was behind him and turning her head to face him while holding a Golem Trooper in a submission hold, Shiryu inhaled and gently placed his glowing palm on a charging Golem. The Golem paused as Shiryu gently touched him, confused by his gesture, but the intent was soon made clear as Shiryu exhaled and pushed his palm forward. While the arm did not extend much, if at all, the force that came out was enough to drill a hole through the Golem's chest, destroying the flower controlling it and the Golem's body as a result.

"More Bruce Lee stuff," Sailor Jupiter rolled her eyes before taking her crackling palm and ripping the flower from the chest of her captured Golem, letting go as it crumbled in her arms and then crushing the flower underneath her boot. "Remember what I told you about Bruce Lee's history with grapplers. If my opponent doesn't decide to wait for my to gather my ki, I could have a broken hand."

"No, you won't. They won't see it coming," Shiryu replied with a grin as both he and Sailor Jupiter crackled with power. "In the meantime, let's show these guys the fruits of our training! ROZAN SHORYU-HA!"

"JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!"

-

As twin dragons of energy rocketed into the sky, Shun continued his conversation with Minako. Before encountering her, Shun's band was a simple side project that helped distract him in between the bouts of violence Sanctuary would thrust upon him. He only auditioned for Minako's tour because his big brother Ikki convinced him that he would enjoy it. When he actually got the job, Shun wondered what kind of person Minako was when the spotlight went out and she went about her business. So now that the bloodlust tainting their professional relationship had been removed, Shun took the opportunity to learn more about his opposite in the Sailor Senshi.

To his surprise, they had a similar taste in music despite their differences in genre. "You don't strike me as someone who would be heavy into grunge music, Ms. Aino…"

"I always keep an open eye. You never know when a good collaboration offer comes along."

"I see...so is that why you're not a fan of Nirvana?"

"Because I can't collaborate with them because the singer died? No, it's just that there are better grunge acts than them. They might be the most popular, but how much is that because of their sudden tragedy?"

"I think that's unfair, Ms. Aino. If Kurt Cobain didn't end up like he did, who knows how many more great songs Nirvana could have came up with. I wear their patch on my jacket because it reminds me how sacred life is, because it represents unlimited potential."

"Hence why I'm not a fan. It's one thing to die of natural causes, but Kurt took his own life. We all have hardships in life we have to deal with. Do you think I chose to become a Sailor Senshi? It's my responsibility to protect the smiles of the princess and the people."

"...so who's your favorite grunge band?"

For her answer, Minako looked up to the web of chains she and Shun erected with their respective weapons, where a couple dozen foot soldiers were helplessly dangling by their arms, legs, and necks. "I've always been partial to Alice in Chains," she said with a grin.

"Ooooh," Shun nodded his head before following her gaze and focusing his cosmo through his chain. "NEBULA THUNDER WAVE!"

"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"

Sending their pink and yellow energies through the chains, the Andromeda Saint and Sailor Venus set off a chain reaction that caused everything within the web to detonate in a massive burst of flame, with debris of armor, decayed flesh, burning foliage and clay falling onto the ground. "What are your thoughts on punk?" Shun asked as his Nebula Chain retracted back into his gauntlet.

"I've thought about bringing some punk influence in my next album. Now that I'm not bound by teen idol stereotypes I can really experiment with my sound," Minako replied as her chain vanished in a flash of yellow energy. "I'll talk to the manager about bringing you on if you're up for it. What's the fastest tempo you can play at?"

"340 BPM. After the Holy War I want to try some Visual-eh?"

Seeing something move at the corner of his eye, Shun turned to see a piece of clay roll on its own volition...towards the rest of the "herd" of pieces that seemed to be heading for the intersection between the battlefield at the police barrier. "That's strange...we should have defeated them, but I can still feel faint bits of cosmo coming from their pieces. That's never happened before."

"...maybe not for you," Sailor Venus' expression hardened as she noticed that Sailor Mercury and the Cygnus Saint had finished their share of the workload and were watching the herd of pieces congregating with confusion on their faces. "Come on, let's go help the others. I have a bad feeling about this…"

-

To the north, volcanoes erupted to unleash molten rock heated by the fires of Hell itself.

To the south, the ranks of the damned walked the path to King Minos, where their final destinations would be decided. There was no hope for escape, because there was nowhere else to go.

To the east, the river Styx flowed with the stench of the water being as foul as ever. Somewhere on the river, Charon was ferrying the latest arrivals to the gates, where they would begin the long march to King Minos' courtroom.

And to the west, Sailor Pluto was losing her patience with the Cancer Saint that attempted to run her through with his pincers of cosmo. The dimension he transported her to was supposedly the entrance to Hell, and the sparks of fire that would occasionally brush against her were the spirits of those he had killed in his career. When they first arrived, he bragged about claiming lives also meant claiming their souls, to be used on his whim for his "crusade for Justice."

"YA-HOOO," Deathmask howled as he opened the pincers to sever Sailor Pluto's head, forcing her to lift her staff to parry the attack. With the two of them pushing against once another, Deathmask used his formidable strength to force Sailor Pluto down on one knee. He could sense victory fast approaching, and so allowed himself more opportunities to gloat. "You holier-than-thou types fall for the same trap every single time! Here in Hell, everyone is my friend! You're all alone, and that's why you're going to be joining the people down on the path!"

"Do you...think this bothers me?"

"Eh?"

Setsuna kicked Deathmask in the shin to disrupt his footing so that she could stand up and deliver a boot to his face to knock him over. "I said, do you think this bothers me? Do you really think I have anything to fear from you or this place?"

Cancer Deathmask rolled with the blow and returned to his feet to send his victims' souls after his opponent, but they were unable to breach the barrier of light that she had encased herself in. But the barrier wasn't a result of a defensive measure: Deathmask could sense her cosmo rising sharply, to a point where he was no longer completely confident that she could be beaten in his current state. "Oooh...you've been holding out on me, baby! These first dates are so we can make sure we're made for each other, y'know!"

"I am the guardian of time. Life and death are completely irrelevant to me...as is your outdated concept of an afterlife," Setsuna shouted before pointing her glowing staff at Deathmask. "Trying to contain me in this place is as futile as trying to contain a block hole in a glass jar! Your insolence knows no bounds!"

-

"MOONLIGHT SLASH!"

With his blade flashing with white energy, the Moonlight Knight cut down another handful of foot soldiers, slicing off masks and flowers so that his enemies could melt and crumble into nothingness. While his bizarre behavior and obsession with tropes often gave the Sailor Senshi headaches (although Usagi found her brainwashed husband's sense of heroism attractive in several ways), no one doubted the incredible fighting prowess he brought to any battle he chose to interject himself in. At one point in the Senshi's battles with Fiore's group, the Moonlight Knight was capable of fending off both Fiore and Gesen on his own, something that the Senshi had difficulty doing even when at full strength.

But because of his modesty, or more accurately his mindfulness of decorum because it was not his place to steal the spotlight from "the main character" Sailor Moon, tonight he was content with using his abilities to completely obliterate anyone and everyone that came anywhere close to his more popular comrades. The other Saints and Senshi had predictably paired off when dealing with the enemy forces based on their "relevance to the story," so the Moonlight Knight was currently fighting the forces of evil was the woman he had deemed his opposite.

"Very impressive, Moonlight Knight," Marin complimented the Moonlight Knight's rampage as she delivered a jumping roundhouse kick to shatter the masks of the Spectre Pures around her in a circular motion. Once she landed, she took the skies once more by crushing another mask with a backflip kick and then landing on the face of a Golem Trooper and slicing off the flower controlling it with a swipe of her hand. "You are truly a warrior without equal!"

"You flatter me, Eagle Saint," Moonlight Knight cut down one more Golem Trooper before turning to Marin and bowing politely. "I am only a plot device that intervenes when the situation calls for the Senshi to make their big comeback. Now that we have begun Super Hero Time, victory will surely be ours as long as we keep fighting!"

"I see. It sounds like you have a lot of experience with these types of brawls," the red-haired warrior placed her hand on the Moonlight Knight's back and vaulted over him to deliver a kick to a Spectre Pure that was about to attack him from behind. As soon as he felt the weight of her body disappear, the Moonlight Knight rose up and cut down another Golem Trooper before sheathing his blade and lifting his fists. "Is it true what Sailor Moon said about you being her husband? Why do you not go back to her if you know this, even with your memories gone?"

"It would not be fair of me to come back to her if I don't even remember how we first met, or our wedding day, or the day our daughter was bo-MOONLIGHT PUNCH," Moonlight Knight explained before he smashed the mask of a Spectre with his fist. "There has to be a purpose as to why I've awoken as the Moonlight Knight, and I believe that as soon as I figure out that purpose, Mamoru Chiba will return to the be the loving husband and father he must be for Sailor Moon to pine for him so."

"EAGLE TALON CUT," Marin cut down two Golem Troopers with a swipe of her cosmo-infused hand before responding. "I have a similar issue with my pupil Seiya. He has convinced himself that I am his long-lost older sister...and a part of me wonders if I actually am. I joined Sanctuary when I was very young, and had a younger brother who greatly resembled Seiya. Fate would suggest that we were meant to reunite as Saints...but what if we're wrong?"

"What would be wrong with that? MOONLIGHT PUNCH!"

"If we're wrong, then we'll choosing to forsake our real siblings who no doubt look for us as much we look for them. EAGLE RYUUSEI-KEN!" Marin bombarded the swarming Golems and Spectres with rapid blasts of cosmo as she and Moonlight Knight stood side by side and looked to the last Golem standing. "Just as you have a mission you need to finish, so do I before I can decide if Seiya is my brother. For now he is a wonderful student and a warm-hearted man, and it is for his future that I fight, just as you fight for Sailor Moon!"

"MOONLIGHT KICK!"
"EAGLE TOE FLASH!"

Both masked fighters took to the air and lifted their legs for a double diving kick. The Golem could only watch its end approach it and be obliterated by the combined force of the attack in a burst of flame and clay debris.

-
"Seiya! Today I'll finally claim your heart!"

"No, no, no! Don't sound so aggressive," Sailor Moon parried Shaina's swipe with her rod and countered with a swipe of her own that was parried right back. "NGH! Seiya might seem energetic, but he's actually very sweet and gentle! You have to approach him with more femininity, or he'll get scared off!"

"You don't-ACH-have to give her tips, Usagi," Seiya said as he blocked a shot from Gesen's sledgehammer-like weapon with an overhead block and then kicked the cyborg away with a front kick. "Shaina is amazing all the same! Shaina-san, how many times have I asked you out since you came to Japan? Let's put a stop to this and we can enjoy the Shinjuku nightlife! There's a great karaoke bar a couple of blocks-"

"Stop teasing me, traitor! I will squeeze every last drop of blood from you before the night is over," Shaina delivered an elbow thrust to Sailor Moon's chest to knock her out of her line of fire, and then unleashed a stream of violet electricity on Seiya, drawing forth a blast of sparks and fire as the attack ricocheted off of Seiya's armor. With Seiya on one knee, Shaina charged forward with her claws bared for murder, but once again Sailor Moon stood in her way and tripped her with a low strike of her rod.

"Don't worry, Shaina, I'll soften him up for you," Gesen pointed the laser blaster attached to his gauntlet directly in Seiya's face, but Seiya was able to reach up and point the weapon upwards, where it discharged into the upper floors of a business tower and unleashed an explosion of fire and broken glass. With Gesen momentarily distracted by his friendly fire, Seiya delivered a palm strike to his stomach and stood up with a flipping kick to his chin to send the cyborg stumbling backwards.

"Boys, you'll just have to entertain yourselves for just a little bit longer. We're having a girl talk right now," Sailor Moon chided while she charged her pink energy into the rod, delivering rapid strikes to Shaina that drew forth a spray of sparks with every hit. "Now, Shaina, I know you really care for Seiya and want to hook up with him, but if you want him to be yours, you have to be a little more refined than 'kill kill kill!' There's a lovely clothing store a little bit north of here. I bet you'd have him wrapped around your finger if you came on to him wearing-"

"Silence, girl! Gesen wasn't joking when he said you talked too much," Shaina unleashed a crescent kick that Usagi weaved under, following with a spinning chop that was skillfully parried by the heroine and a second spin that struck her on the opposite side of her head. "There's only one way to Seiya's heart, and that's through his chest cavity that I'll rip open as he screams my name!"

"Oooh, that actually sounds pretty kinky, I mean without the whole mutilation part," Sailor Moon pressed down on her tiara and unleashed a flash of light that blinded Shaina long enough for her to crouch down and send both of them rocketing into the sky with Sailor Moon driving her spiraling fist into Shaina's chin. "MOON LOVELY SCREW PUNCH!"

"So, what's your deal, Gesen," Seiya looked into the crimson eyes of his opponent as he dodged a couple more energy blasts before countering with a few of his own: his Pegasus Ryuusei-ken that was skillfully evaded by Gesen's side roll. "Usagi says you two know each other on a first name basis. I bet you're a jilted lover who learned that she's already married and now you take your frustrations out on the Senshi team as a Neo-Youma!"
"That's disgusting for any number of reasons," Gesen shot back along with a blast of his death ray which Seiya swatted away so that it could create a plume of fire on the street behind them. "Besides, I definitely wouldn't give away my true identity to someone like you. You'll just have to wonder what's behind my helmet in the afterlife. Shaina, do you feel like tagging off? Your boyfriend is starting to-"

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND! THUNDER CLAW!"

Gesen's remark lit a fire underneath Shaina and forced her to unleash more streaks of violet lightning that created a flash of fire and sparks, forcing Sailor Moon and the Pegasus Saint to run for cover and Gesen to retreat back to Shaina's side so he could join the flurry of attacks with bolts from his gauntlet. There weren't many places Usagi and Seiya could cover from, but there was plenty of wide-open space in the Shinjuku district they could use for evasive maneuvers.

Once it was clear that Shaina and Gesen weren't going to tire out, Seiya and Usagi skid to a halt and instead charged through the melee to unleash offense of their own.

"PEGASUS SUI SEI KEN!"
"MOONLIGHT ATTRACTIVE ATTACK!"

With Sailor Moon's large energy attack acting as cover fire, the Pegasus Saint charged in and delivered cosmo-infused punches to both assailants, sending them flying backwards with the combined forces of Seiya's fist and Usagi's spirit energy fueling their ride. Both fighters crashed down hard onto the pavement and showed noticeable wear in how slow they were getting up, but their fighting spirits were nowhere close to extinguished.

-

"GAH!"

The tear in space that Deathmask created opened once more to reveal the Cancer Saint quickly crawling out of it as Sailor Pluto chased him back into the human world with her staff flashing with power. His "date" with Dr. Setsuna Meioh went far poorer than he expected, and now she had kicked him out of his house and was looking for some alimony in the form of his screams of pain. Aries Mu and his opponents Uranus and Neptune had found themselves in a standstill since they were transported to the Gate of Hell, and the return had the potential to help turn the tide.

"Haruka-chan, Michiru-chan," Deathmask crawled to the two Other Senshi's feet and scrambled into a standing position. "You have to give me a hand! She kicked me out of my house! No one's ever done that before!"

"PLUTO…"
"Grrr, here it comes! Alright, ladies, let's do a big team-up finishing attack and show this broad who's-EH!?"

"Let 'im have it, Setsuna," Uranus shouted as she locked Deathmask in place by latching onto his left arm.

"DEAD…"

"Sorry, Deathmask, but you really shouldn't have put your hands on us," Michiru whispered in Deathmask's ear with sadistic glee as she latched onto his right arm.

"SCREAM!"

Pointing her staff at Deathmask, Sailor Pluto unleashed a ball of crackling purple energy that rocketed towards the Cancer Saint like a cannonball. Once it was absolutely clear that there was no way Deathmask would be able to get away from it, Uranus and Neptune let go of him and ran for cover so that he could be pulverized by Sailor Pluto's ultimate technique. The Pluto Dead Scream had felled countless opponents, but Deathmask and his Cancer cloth were made of stronger stuff. Unfortunately for him, neither of them emerged from the blast able to return fire.

With the Cancer Saint armor noticeably cracking in certain parts while Deathmask's face was scarred and bruised, Uranus and Neptune promptly spit on his groaning body before turning to Mu and Setsuna. "We were waiting for you to help us put that moron in his place," Uranus called out to Setsuna before she and Neptune turned away from them and started walking away from the battlefield. "We'll settle this another time, Setsuna. I hope you and your friends are prepared for Phase 3…"

"You think you can just walk away after what you've-"

"Let them go, doctor," Mu turned to the congregating mass at the center of street. "I think we're about to have other problems."

-

Gesen and Shaina were surrounded.

With no less than 14 Sailor Senshi and Saints of Athena combining their strength, every single one of their allies were either destroyed, lying unconscious, or retreating. Shaina bared her claws and prepared for her last stand, but Gesen put a hand in front of her and instead turned to the mass of debris that had gradually been joining together from the remains of the Golem Troopers and Spectre Pures. "I bet you guys are feeling proud of yourselves right now, aren't you?"

The answer wasn't immediately, as all of the combatants were visibly exhausted from the brawl they had just finished. Since dusk, all the Saints and Senshi had been doing was fighting, whether it be each other or their usual antagonists. Their breath was haggard, and their shoulders were bouncing up and down as they took deep, quick breaths. But even so, there were fourteen of them and the enemy had dwindled down to two. Their victory was assured, and the only option available to Gesen and Shaina was retreat.

But then it finally hit them. A few of the Saints and Senshi had a nagging feeling that not everything was what it seemed, but now all of them could sense the overwhelmingly dreadful power emanating from the center of the Shinjuku intersection. "Master Fiore is not such a simpleton that his place would solely rely on you trying to attack each other, or even us trying to defeat you. He figured that the Golem Troopers and Spectre Pures would prove no match for you even after you softened yourselves up for us."

"...what are you up to, Gesen?"

"It should be obvious by now, Usagi," Gesen folded his arms as the last pieces of the defeated foot soldiers finally reached the mass, and the blob began to take humanoid shape. "There's a saying that's apt for the situation at hand...'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.'"