A Month of Sundays
5.5: 8-5-18-15-5-19/21-14-9-20-5-4
"Unity is strength...when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."
-Mattie Stepanek
April 28th, 2012
12:15 PM
Aries Zodiarts was thrown back by a blast of golden light coming from Kamen Rider Pierrot's right pointer finger. The new Kamen Rider, draped in a cape of gold, green and purple stripes, alongside a symbol of three octagons with a similar coloring on his chest, placed his hands on the neck of the Zodiarts of the Ram.
"You were a fool to confront me," Pierrot hissed. "I don't know how or why you came back, but I don't care. You deprived me of a loving family and now I'll ensure that your family will be deprived of you!"
Aries Zodiarts struggled to stand up, hands still on the Coppelius Scepter. Just as a blast of golden mist began to materialize once more, Pierrot growled, "Greensleeves!"
A bush of thorns emerged from beneath Aries Zodiarts' feet, piercing through his arms and legs. Blood began to drip from the wounds as the Zodiarts let out a strangled gasp.
"You don't deserve to die, not yet..." Pierrot cackled. His right pointer finger began to glow as he placed it on his opponent's forehead. "Goldfinger."
With a golden glow, the Zodiarts slowly began to transform into gold. His body began to stiffen, and the blood flowing down his arms and legs became liquid gold that Pierrot caught in his fingers. The Coppelius scepter dropped from the Zodiarts' hands just as its head was rendered immobile by the gold. With a snap of Pierrot's fingers, the thorns receded, and all that was left of the Aries Zodiarts was a golden statue in its likeness.
Liking his handiwork, Pierrot turned to the unconscious Akiko and Ryu. With a wave of his hands, a purple orb of energy formed in front of him. Just as he was about to say the special incantation, he paused. It was if there was some invisible force preventing him from acting out in anger. Pierrot stood still, the purple orb just inches away from Akiko's face.
"Impossible!" Damballa thought to himself. "We must eradicate these two! Why are you hesitating, Serpent-bearer?"
"I...don't want to ..." Shotaro replied. "Can't hurt...friends..."
"The spell can't be weakening now! Serpent-bearer, obey my commands!"
"No...I must..."
"Submit!"
"I must..."
"Obey me!"
"I..."
"NOW!"
"Purple Rain!" Pierrot yelled as the purple energy orb escaped his hands.
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April 28th, 2012
12:20 PM
Claw On
Nadeshiko, now in her Kamen Rider Form, began to slice away at Nonomura, who began charging at her with blinding speeds. With a yowl, Nonomura leapt onto the female Kamen Rider, his nails now a pair of sharp talons ready to slice someone's face off.
"Bad kitty!" Nadeshiko exclaimed, kicking Nonomura in the stomach. With her opponent flying across the wall, Nadeshiko took the opportunity to slice his clothes off with the gauntlet before slamming him across the wall, sending him into unconsciousness.
"This is getting annoying!" Rumi growled, swinging her vaulting pole around. Every time she did so, Ritsuko just moved back an inch with her telekinetic powers. "Will you just stand still and let me attack you?!"
Ritsuko just cackled before replying, "If I do that, it'll just show how everyone just loved to push me aside. Seeing is believing, was what they said and I knew what I saw. Everyone just wanted me as their scapegoat!"
"The truth will eventually come to light!" Rumi rushed toward Ritsuko, hands on the vaulting pole. "They'll realize the error of their ways and will ask for your forgiveness. But for now, STAY DOWN if you know what's good for you!"
Slamming the end of the pole down, Rumi jumped into the air, her feet ready to kick Ritsuko to the ground. Ritsuko just moved herself back, but looked up as the vaulting pole was brought down upon her head. Rumi smirked, landing on her hands and knees in triumph.
"You know," said Taira, swinging his axe toward Makise. "I never really understood why you actually had crushes on those girls. Did you ever realize that you were being a massive dick to them?"
Makise growled and raised his hands into the air just as Taira was about to charge toward him. The axe-wielder felt his body become paralyzed and his hands bringing the axe blade close to his neck. Just as Taira was about to slice his own head off, someone poked Makise at the shoulder. Makise turned around and was met with Ibuki's fist punching him across the face, knocking him out for the count. Taira dropped to his knees.
"A ninja helping a samurai," he muttered. "Don't tell this to my parents."
"Promise," Ibuki replied, helping his friend up. "Now we should WHOA!"
He ducked out of the way just as Nitta's rapier was about to pierce his heart. Using his kusarigama, Ibuki wrapped the weighted chain around the sharp blade, preventing Nitta from attacking. Taira took this as his time to bring his axe into the air before slicing the blade with one powerful blow. Without a weapon, Nitta was then vulnerable to two fists punching him in the face.
"Nice..." said Abe, seeing everyone successfully beating their opponents. "Can anyone HELP ME OUT with this monster?!"
Jin summoned large shotput ball and hurled it toward his attacker. Abe dodged at the last minute, wielding his tanto blade in a mighty grip. The problen with Jin was that despite being slower than the others, Rumi mentioned that the Draco Zodiarts' body was made of steel and he coud easily breathe fire. To disable him, Abe needed to be in close combat which is what Jin was preventing.
"We're coming!" said Rumi. "Hold on!"
"These guys are too easy!" Taira exclaimed. "I guess those guys didn't realize that we could easily over power them."
"It is a bit too easy," said Ibuki. "I just feel like we're being lead in to something bigger, though."
"Be a bit optimistic, Ibuki! We'll be back home before you know it and all of us having lunch with our families! Nothing can go possibly wrong!"
Nadeshiko pulled out a copy of the N/S Magphone and split it apart, inserting both the N. and S. Magnet switches in their respective slots. She then pressed on their tops.
N/S Magnet On
0-0-0-0-0-0-
April 28th, 2012
12:25 PM
Ohsugi was on the offensive, jumping at the Zodiarts of the Archer and doing his best to hack away at the enemy with the glove on his hand. Unfortunately, the Zodiarts brushed him aside by throwing him over his shoulder, and the teacher landed on his back in pain.
"Pathetic," Sagittarius Zodiarts muttered, preparing the Gilgamesh Bow. He pulled the string back, and an arrow of fire materialized. "I think it's time for you to burn in-"
He didn't have time to finish as something struck his hand. The Zodiarts looked down at whatever distracted him. It was a paper flag. Before he had time to react, he was met with a sword about to come down on his head, making him stumble back. The owner of the sword was Kousei Kougami himself.
"Subarashi," he whispered, inspecting the blade. "Owner, you are always full of surprises."
"I aim to please," Owner replied, brandishing a few more paper flags in hands. "Thanks for being the distraction, Ohsugi."
"Yeah, don't mention it," Ohsugi replied, waving the gloved hand in the air. "Don't mind me while I start getting back on my feet."
"You three are getting annoying," the Zodiarts growled, preparing another fiery arrow. "When I get done with you, all that will be left will be three piles of ashes."
"And why do you want to rid of us so badly...Chairman?"
The Zodiarts turned around as Ohsugi rose to his feet, panting for breath. Sagittarius Zodiarts lowered his bow as Ohsugi continued.
"You have to be the Chairman," said Ohsugi. "The main Horoscope Zodiarts prior to Cancer and Aries were members of the school board. Hayami was Libra and then made Sonada-sensei Scorpio, but where did he get his Zodiarts switch from? Simple, he received his from the only person above him: you."
"Impressive, Chuta Ohsugi," said the Zodiarts. "I always thought you were nothing more than a love-sick fool."
"I thought so too, until I realized that the love of my life was better off eating puffer fish needles. I wanted to believe that the school was made for aspiring kids to reach the stars, but the way that's employed? It disgusts me." Ohsugi cracked his knuckles and prepared the finned glove on his hand by tugging on it. "I looked up to you, and I learned one important thing."
"What was that?"
"I was better off not seeing my idols."
Ohsugi jumped into the air once more, the fins on his glove enlarging to cleave the Zodiarts in half. Owner threw a multitude of flags toward the Zodiarts' eyes, and Kougami charged once more with the sword in hand. Sagittarius snarled and vanished in a blink of an eye. Ohsugi landed on his knees (blocking the flags that were aimed toward his face with his arm) as Sagittarius emerged behind Kougami. Before the CEO had a chance to react, he was flown back with a punch to the stomach.
"Unbelievable..." Kougami coughed out, feeling the wind knocked out of him.
Owner picked up the fallen sword and pointed it toward Sagittarius, narrowing his eyes.
"It is time to end this once and for all," he stated. "Mitsuaki Gamou, your actions must be stopped before you end up creating an apocalypse."
"If that will be the result of my long-term plan, I don't give a shit." said the Zodiarts of the Archer. "I will invoke the Day of Awakening and I will not let anyone stop me. Not you and definitely not that Gentaro Kisaragi!"
"Then let us make this quick; I have a rice eating contest to attend to."
Sagittarius Zodiarts and Owner rushed at each other in blinding speeds, their weapons aimed at each other's hearts.
0-0-0-0-0
April 28th, 2012
12:30 PM
Teruhiko opened his mouth and let out an ear-splitting howl as Eiji stepped back, hands covering his head. Ankh took it as the chance to kick Eiji upside the head and knocking him onto the ground.
"Ugh," Teruhiko grunted, hand on his head. "I need to sleep..."
"Sleep when you're ready to die," Ankh replied. "Until then, we've got to disable him."
"It's those Core Medals...we need to remove them in order to get him to stay still." Teruhiko pulled out a long chain from his bag and twirled it around. "Can you keep him still for a little while longer?"
"I've done that a few times—this shouldn't be any different." Ankh lifted Eiji onto his feet and pinned him to a nearby tree. "Will you stay still, you bad dog?"
Eiji snarled and bit deep into Ankh's shoulder. Ankh took a dep breath and drove his knee deep into Eiji's stomach. "Now!" he cried out.
Teruhiko threw the chain toward Eiji and quickly wrapped the chain around the prone Kamen Rider. Eiji continued to snarl and bark back, using as much strength as he could to break free. It was no use—even someone like him could not break through the chain so easily.
"There," Teruhiko panted, tugging onto the chain to tighten it. "Now...let's get those damned things off of him."
"Tch," Ankh scoffed, reaching toward the OOO Driver. Just as he was about to reach for the first Core Medals, Teruhiko saw something. With his vision enhanced by the Cosmic Energy—or he was probably delusional with hunger and lack of sleep—he thought he saw a strange silhouette hovering over Ankh. Realization struck.
"Look out!" Teruhiko screamed. It was too late though. Ankh looked up just as some green, feathery thing entered his mouth. He fell onto his knees as the wriggling mass crawled down his throat, his hands close to his own neck to keep himself from suffocating.
At the same time Eiji let out a loud howl that caused Teruhiko to stumble back, releasing his grip on the chain. The chain fell down to Eiji's feet, freeing him before he tackled Ankh, just as the green substance finished its journey down Ankh's esophagus. Eiji then tackled Ankh onto the ground, saliva dripping from a set of canine-like fangs as the two started grappling.
"Filthy serpent…" said Eiji. "Filthy serpent must die!"
"Serpent…" said Teruhiko. "Wait a minute…don't tell me another one of those things is here?!"
"Serpent must die…Serpent found us…Serpent has found host!" Eiji let out another growl as he punched Ankh in the stomach before grabbing him by his hair and placing a hand over his neck. "He sensed it…"
"Sensed what? What did he…" Teruhiko looked at his hands and saw Cosmic Energy escaping his palms. "I did this…" He clenched his fists. "And I'm going to undo this!"
Teruhiko waved his hand toward Eiji and a barrage of spikes flew toward him. Eiji retaliated by leaping onto Teruhiko, the two slashing and biting each other as if they were two canines fighting over who would be the Alpha Male of the group. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep and food made Teruhiko unable to use most of his strength, causing Eiji to overpower him. Just as he felt himself see his life flash before his eyes, he heard someone laugh.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" a childish voice replied. "Can I join?"
Teruhiko turned, seeing Ankh slowly stand up. A large red bird wing grew from the right side of his back and crawling down his right arm was a feathery serpent. Ankh lifted his gaze and the once cold, aloof gaze that Teruhiko knew was now innocent, child-like and somewhat twisted.
"Such a fun game you're playing!" he exclaimed, his sarcastic voice now similar to one of a seven-year-old boy. "Let me try! It looks like fun!"
Eiji whipped his head toward Ankh and the two began to fight once more. Ankh just giggled before jumping onto the tree branch that he and Teruhiko were sitting on about an hour ago. Ankh began to swing his legs back and forth as Eiji was trying to bite his ankles. Teruhiko just sighed.
"Aw, man!" he exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead.
0-0-0-0-0-0
April 28th, 2012
12:37 PM
"What's going on out there?" asked Jun, her body sliding against the wall. "I can't hear anything."
"That's because we're too far to hear," said Mari, clutching onto her cellphone. "We can't even tell if we're even close to Futo, and we can't contact Teruhiko cause his cell-phone isn't on him."
"We can't just sit here! We have to help them!" Jun sighed and pulled out her cellphone. "I need to call Miu-sempai."
As she began to dial a number, Mari heard the door open. Entering the car was Naomi, a tray of food in her hands. She panted for breath as she set down two plates of fried rice on a nearby table.
"Naomi," Mari hissed. "What's going on? What is this?"
"Back-up fried rice for Owner and Station Master's fried rice duel," Naomi explained. "It wasn't easy to get past everyone. Satonaka and Hana are utilizing frying pans against Sonada and I had no idea your teacher would go as far as to kick someone where the sun don't shine!"
"Shh!" said Jun, placing a finger on her lips and her cellphone near her ear. There was some silence for three more seconds as a voice rang out. "Hello?"
"Miu-sempai!" Jun exclaimed. "We need back-up! The DenLiner is being attacked by Zodiarts and there's another serpent loose and-"
"Sorry, can't talk right now!" Miu interrupted. "We have the Gemini Zodiarts to worry about, not to mention the...oh my god. Gentaro! What happened to you? Why are you..."
There was the sound of a rocket engine coming to life before everything was muffled by a loud scream. Then, the DenLiner began to shake just as Miu hung up from the conversation.
"What was that?" asked Mari, looking around. "Did we crash into something?"
"Get going!" said Naomi, seeing smoke rising behind her. "That's the signal! You're going to have to jump!"
She pressed onto a button near the wall as a part of the train lifted up, revealing the deserts of time the DenLiner traveled through. Mari and Jun nodded and held hands, seeing their window of opportunity appearing as a glowing rectangle of light.
"On the count of three..." said Mari. "One...two...THREE!"
Just as another explosion rocked the DenLiner, both photographer and cheerleader jumped off.
Next time: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. This should not deter our protagonists because there is more coming up on the horizon. The day is already half-way over, yet the story is just beginning.
To be continued, Sundays-6 "United We Stand"