"..." Speech
'...' Quote
'Hi' Thought
"Learn your place!" Inner Moka through Rosario
Feedback=Christian
Positive Feedback=Zack
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, everything else belongs to their own creators.
Alien Watch in a Monster School
Summer Time Madness
It had been two weeks since the events regarding the Public School Safety Committee. In that time the school had somehow found a way to return back to normal as if nothing had happened. However there had still been some events going on for the members of the Newspaper Club.
Once Christian had been allowed to leave infirmary, he had a talk with Magister Patelliday. It was then that the teen Plumber had learned that the Headmaster of the academy had always known about his enrolment and also knew about his mission. He was also told that the Headmaster had granted him and one of his friends the benefit of being allowed to wear casual clothing during school as an apology for almost being killed. As if that would make up for it!
Patelliday also had a talk with Christian and Zack about the latter's ability to transform into the Omnitrix aliens and upon Christian's recommendation, Zack was taken back to Bellwood so that he could train to use his aliens more effectively in combat. However, before Zack left, Christian decided that he should tell all his friends the truth about his identity and what he was doing at the academy. He told them about the Plumbers, the Omnitrix, aliens, his mission, everything. Needless to say, they were very surprised to learn about the existence of aliens and that Christian was a part of an intergalactic police force. Who wouldn't be? However, they now also understood why it was necessary for him to lie to them.
Once Patelliday had made sure that they would all keep Christian's secret, the Piscciss Volann took his leave, an enthusiastic Zack going with him. But, before they finally left, Patelliday gave Christian once last piece of bad news. It appeared that Kuyo had disappeared from his hospital bedroom. As the boy had been too broken to leave on his own, someone had clearly helped him leave the academy, however it was unknown who. Christian knew that it was not the last he had seen of Kuyo. When the Yoko returned, he would be ready to face him.
Since then, nothing had really happened. There had only been two incidents that deemed any mention. The first involved a teen called Chopper Rikiishi. He was a member of the school wrestling team obsessed with being the toughest guy at school. He targeted Christian when he learned that it was he who had taken down Kuyo. As Kuyo had been on Chopper's 'list' of people to fight, he was angry that his fight had been taken away from him. Therefore, the hulking teen had challenged the teen to a fight to prove who was tougher. After a lot of 'persuasion', Christian finally agreed. Chopper revealed himself to be a mountain troll and began the fight. After five minutes, Chopper had been soundly defeated by Rath.
The next incident involved Ririko Kagome, the maths teacher. Christian and Moka had discovered her giving less gifted students 'special' tutoring sessions to get them ready for the mid-term tests that decided whether or not a student was allowed to go on summer break. However, these sessions involved the students becoming 'math zombies' who were utterly obedient to Ms. Ririko's will. On the way home from a late club meeting, Christian and Moka had heard someone cry out in agony from one of the nearby classrooms. Rushing inside they found Ririko in her monster form, which happened to be a Lamia, quite literally pumping math knowledge into a male students head via a flower like appendage at the end of her tail. Using Feedback, Christian was able to defeat Ms. Ririko and free all who were under her control. As a result, Ms. Ririko was given a two week suspension from teaching and the students who she had been brain washed were forced to start studying again from scratch.
After a lot of revision, and a little help from Grey Matter, Christian managed to pass all of his exams and was allowed to go on summer break. This leads us to the current situation.
Christian was currently standing alone at the bus stop where he had first been dropped off when he came to Yokai Academy. He was dressed in casual clothing consisting of a black jacket, a white shirt and blue jeans, a black bag was slung over his shoulder. Sighing, he raised up his left wrist and tapped the Omnitrix touch screen. At first nothing happened so the teen tapped on it a few times.
"C'mon you stupid thing…" Christian growled before a holographic image showing the time shone just a few centimetres above the Omnitrix screen revealing the time to be quarter to eight in the morning. "Finally," he sighed. Ever since the fight with Kuyo, the Omnitrix had been acting strangely. He suspected it had something to do with why the symbol became red during the fight. Every so often it would stop working and refuse to start up again for a few minutes. Christian had tried to report the problem but the Plumber communications network was still down.
Lowering his arm, Christian remembered the reason for why he was standing at the bus stop that early in the morning.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Three days ago
"Great news guys!" Ms. Nekonome cried enthusiastically as she burst into the News Paper club room with an expression of utter excitement, surprising the hard working members inside. "We're going on a trip to the human world!"
The reaction of her students was priceless. Kurumu dropped the box she had been holding full of equipment, Yukari looked up with a look of utter shock which caused her to scribble on what she had been writing on, Moka gasped and almost fell off her chair and Christian had snapped the pencil he had been holding. Gin, as always, was asleep and slacking off.
"What!?" Christian cried, getting up from his chair. "Why!?"
"The Headmaster said that you all deserved a break for your hard services to the school," Ms. Nekonome explained as cheerfully as ever, oblivious to her student's reactions. "We are going to spend the weekend camping on a beach to do some investigative reporting on fads in the human world. And if we happen to acquire any fish there, it will be all the better," The cat like teacher added, her cat like tail appearing from under her skirt as she said the last part.
"Somehow…I don't think the Headmaster came up with the location," Kurumu whispered to the other two girls, making them nod in agreement.
"But Ms. Nekonome…Don't the rules state that we're not supposed to go to the human world until we graduate?" Christian asked, also knowing that they could leave if you were taken out like Zack was.
"It's fine if you have a responsible teacher with you," the cat-like teacher explained. "Probably."
"That's not reassuring!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sighing once again, Christian thought about what he and the club were about to do. A trip to the human world. It didn't feel real. He hadn't been there in over four months. He had to admit, he felt a little nervous about going back. This was his chance to show his friends that they could live in the human world in peace without worry. He needed to be a good host to make sure that they will want to come back someday after they graduated. Especially-
"Good morning Christian!" A familiar, cheery voice sounded from behind the Plumber, bringing the boy out of his thoughts.
"Oh, good morning Mo-kaaaaaa…" Christian trailed off as he turned around to see his vampire friend. To say she looked amazing was an understatement. The pinkette was wearing a stunning dark red summer dress that complimented her figure beautifully. She had a red, long sleeved, cardigan on over her shoulders which came down to her waist. The sunlight that the school barrier let through lit up Moka's features making her look perfect. She was carrying a small bag that no doubt contained some belongings for the trip. "You-You…You look…" the Omnitrix stuttered, trying to find the right words to describe his best friend. "Great…" That wasn't what he wanted to say.
Nevertheless, Moka blushed. "Thanks, you look good too."
The pair realised that they still had some time to kill so they decided to climb up to the tree that overlooked the bus stop and wait for their friends to show up.
"I have to admit," Moka began, "I'm a little nervous."
"Of going to the human world?" Christian summarised.
Moka nodded. "You know that I lived in the human world when I was younger. I felt so out of place there that it made me hate humans," she explained, quickly realising what she had just said to her, human, best friend. "But I'm completely fine now!" She cried loudly and quickly, flailing her arms around randomly as she tried to reassure her friend she didn't hate him. "I'm looking forward to this trip a lot more than I'm dreading it! I know it will be fine as long as I'm with you!" Settling down, Moka leaned against Christian, causing the boy to turn a shade darker. "I'm not worried," she reaffirmed, looking up at Christian. "I know you'll protect me."
The moment the two teens locked eyes, they felt a force pulling them closer together. The teens closed their eyes and just as they were about to became lost in the moment, they heard something that immediately made the teens separate and look away from each other.
"Oh come on! We're going to be late!" Kurumu's loud voice sounded across the area. Upon looking at their approaching friends, Christian took notice that Kurumu had also selected to wear something different. The Succubus was wearing a white, short sleeved shirt that hugged at her curves with a black ribbon around her collar. She was also wearing a short pink skirt. She was carrying a travel bag over her shoulder.
"You're the one who wanted my help getting by the teachers!" Yukari's high pitch voice countered. "You should be in summer school!" Yukari had opted to remain in her normal clothes but was also carrying a small bag.
"So what?" Kurumu replied. "I'd rather be with…CHRISTIAN!"
"Good morning Kuru-ah!" Christian began before the bluenette ran the last few steps and tackled Christian in one of her smothering hugs.
"I'm so glad we're going on this trip together! I wouldn't have missed it for anything!" Kurumu told him happily.
'So I heard…' Christian thought absently. However, he quickly began struggling for air as Kurumu once again near suffocated him. Luckily, Yukari was quick to come to his rescue.
No sooner did Christian think he was going to suffocate did a golden washtub fall from the sky and hit Kurumu on the head, automatically causing the girl to release the boy. "Get your hands off him!" Yukari cried. "He doesn't need your under-educated touch!"
"You brat!" Kurumu shouted, shooting up instantly to have ago at the young witch whilst Moka tended to the heavily breathing Christian. "You'll pay for that!"
"Can we please get along?!" Moka pleaded. "We're supposed to be going on holiday!"
Any further argument was nullified as the sound of an approaching vehicle reached their ears. Turning, they saw the school bus heading out of the tunnel.
"Hey guys!" The familiar voice of their club adviser called, sticking her head out of the bus door and waving at them. "Are you ready for the best trip ever?" she called out as she stepped off the bus only to be met with four enthusiastic cheers.
"It's a shame Zack can't be with us," Yukari commented as she got on the bus.
"Yeah, but I'm sure he's having his own fun," Christian remarked, thinking of the training the teen must be going through.
"Speaking of members of the club, where's Gin?" Moka asked, looking round expectantly for the werewolf teen before following Yukari on to the bus.
"He didn't get fifty percent on some of his tests so he has to make it up in summer school," Kurumu explained.
"You're one to talk!" Yukari called from inside the bus.
"I managed to get out of my make-up classes," Kurumu quickly said, jumping on to the bus before anyone could comment.
"More like ran out on them," Yukari murmured.
"Maybe…" Kurumu whispered inaudibly as she sat down, snickering about her victory over the teachers.
Christian sighed before stepping on to the bus. He immediately took notice of the same bus driver who had driven him to the school on the first day of school. "Looking well kid," the blue clad man greeted. "I see you've survived so far, huh?"
"Only with the help of my friends," Christian commented as he walked past him.
"Hey kid!" The Bus Driver called. "You should know that the link between humans and monsters runs deeper than you think. You've only just scratched the surface of the two species' relationship."
Before Christian could ask what the strange driver meant, he was pushed into the seat next to Moka by an ecstatic Ms. Nekonome. "No more talking!" the teacher cried joyfully. "It's time for the Newspaper Club to hit the road!"
With those words, The Bus Driver pressed his foot on the accelerator and drove the bus forward into the inter-dimensional tunnel that connected the Human and Monster worlds.
As the others chatted happily, Christian looked out the window into the darkness of the tunnel as he awaited the chance to gaze upon the world that he had left months before. Moka, seeing that he was looking out of the window, nudged the teen gently in the side. "Are you excited about going to the human world?" she asked curiously.
"A little," he responded, returning to looking out the window. "You have to remember that I don't actually live in Japan. This is a new experience for me too."
"Hey Chris!" Kurumu called before Moka could reply. "What is America actually like?" the Succubus asked.
"I'm curious myself," Yukari admitted. "Monsters can't really travel overseas as we don't have passports. It's like a dream for us. I have to admit I'm quite jealous that Zack's in another country right now."
"Really?" Christian asked with a surprised look. 'Perhaps I could organise a trip for everyone to visit Bellwood once the school year finishes?'
"Christian?" Yukari asked, once again bringing the teen out of this thoughts. "You zoned out."
"Sorry about that," Christian apologised as he rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. "Well I can tell you now the USA has a lot more alien sightings than Japan. Very few of the UFO's people see are fake."
For a moment the girls looked stunned before Yukari's brow furrowed in confusion. "Don't you mean most of the UFO's people see are fake?" Yukari inquired.
"No," Christian replied simply. "You have no idea how much covering up the Plumbers have to do," he told them before adding mentally. 'Especially since Ben is having to do more fighting in the open these days. It's a miracle no one's figured out who he is yet.' For the remainder of the trip through the tunnel, Christian told his friends about the differences between America and Japan, only stopping when the bus driver made an announcement.
"We are about to enter the Human world."
The four teens rushed to the window closest to them as a light began to shine, signifying the end of the tunnel. Suddenly, there was a bright flash causing them to close their eyes. However, once it had faded, the four were able to see many sights that were familiar to the lone human passenger. The bus had exited the tunnel and had entered a town on the Japanese coast. Unlike Yokai Academy, which seemed to be in an endless autumn, it was clearly summer. The sun beamed down from the clear blue skies and lit up the town beautifully. Many people walked along the streets as they went around enjoying the summer weather. There were kids riding on bike or playing in the streets, teenagers hanging with their friends whilst enjoying their holiday and families on trips together. The latter caused the three girls to wonder if they would ever have something like that with a family of their own, built with the boy of their affection.
'I'm back,' Christian thought absently as he continued to smile.
"Oh wow!" Kurumu gasped excitedly, pointing forward towards the something out of the window. "Look guys! It's the beach!"
Sure enough, the bluenette was right. Just at the bottom of the small town, the four teens were able to make out pristine white sand and the beautiful glow of the sun reflecting off the cerulean ocean.
Upon seeing the ocean, Christian remembered the item currently in his left jacket pocket and who he intended to give it to. Placing his hand inside his jacket, the teen wrapped his fingers around a small, wrapped, rectangular box that held an item that he had been working on ever since the fiasco with the enforcers. He had wanted to give Moka the chance to experience all of what summer had to offer. Therefore, using parts from the tech he had stashed underneath his bed and the brains of a certain alien, Christian had developed something that would allow her to do just that. Now he just needed a way to give it to her.
'This could either end really well or really badly,' Christian thought to himself as the bus approached its destination. 'I hope she likes it.'
As the bus finally pulled up to the side of the beach, Ms. Nekonome, who had been at the front of the bus, turned and cried, "Come on gang! It's time for us to relax!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
'How the hell am I supposed to relax!?' Christian mentally screamed. 'I don't even know where the hell to look!'
For the past ten minutes since they had gotten changed, Christian, now in his black and green trunks, had been doing his best not to stare at his friends. The girls had chosen quite surprising swimsuits to wear for this trip.
Kurumu had decided to wear a two piece, black bikini with yellow flowers which managed to compliment her body brilliantly. Yukari was wearing a one piece swimsuit with frills at the bottom which was mostly orange but had a white rectangular stripe running down the middle. The girl had also opted to wear her witch's hat with the look. Christian had the hardest time looking at Moka though. The pinkette had decided to wear an exotic, one piece, white swimsuit that hugged to her form and emphasized her curves.
Currently, the four friends were passing an inflatable ball between them whilst their teacher had gone off somewhere, Christian assumed to get some fish.
"Is it nice to be back Christian?" Yukari asked, repeating Moka's question from earlier. "You must have missed being here."
"A little I guess," Christian admitted, passing the ball as it came towards him. "Yokai Academy's a lot more fun though." He added with a smile.
"Now that the enforcers are gone, Yokai Academy is a lot more peaceful," Moka stated as she spiked the ball.
"No kidding," Kurumu commented, using one of her arms to hit the ball upwards, depriving Yukari of her chance to do it.
"Hey!" The witch shouted indignantly, causing the succubus to smile cheekily. "I was going to get that!"
"Sorry," Kurumu replied, although it was clear she didn't mean it. "You're just so small I didn't see you."
"Kurumu…" Christian said as he passed the ball to Moka. Unfortunately he went ignored.
"Size isn't everything!" Yukari retorted, missing Moka spiking the ball high in to the air.
"It is when it comes to the important stuff!" Kurumu replied, pointing in Yukari's face as the ball began to descend. "And that's what matters!" she cried, waving her hand in an arc and backhanding the ball, sending it shooting forward at high speeds towards Christian, who was only just able to dodge it, leaving it to fall into the sand. "Besides, what have you ever done?"
"Kurumu…" Christian said.
"All you ever use is those stupid washtubs!" Kurumu continued, not noticing Yukari's frown.
"Kurumu…" Christian said again, a little more forcefully.
"In battle you're our biggest liability," Kurumu stated.
"Kurumu!" Christian shouted, finally getting the girls attention. "That's enough." He told her angrily. "Apologise to her." He said, gesturing to a sniffing Yukari who had her eyes covered by her hat.
Instantly, Kurumu realised she had gone too far. "Yukari…I'm…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…" She trailed off, knowing that simple words wasn't going to improve Yukari's mood.
Bending down, Christian brought himself to Yukari's level, lifting up her hat so that he was looking her in her tear filled eyes. Moka moved next to the guilty Kurumu and gave her a disappointed look.
"Don't listen to her Yukari," he said softly. "You are crucial to us, not just as a fellow fighter, but as a friend." Yukari rubbed her eyes, listening to what Christian was saying to her. "You have saved my life so many times over the past few months. You were even able to stand against Kuyo. That's really impressive," continuheed. "You have been through so much that no twelve year old should have to go through. It is an honour to know someone so brave and so smart."
"It's true Yukari," Moka said, gaining the girls attention. "You are so important to us. No one could ever replace you."
Kurumu looked down before adding, "I really didn't mean what I said. You are strong Yukari and you've proved it so many times. You're definitely the smartest person I've ever met. At the moment I don't deserve to be your friend but I promise I'll make it up to you."
Yukari looked at the succubus with an angry expression. "Ice cream…" she muttered.
"Huh?"
"You have to buy me ice cream," Yukari stated, pouting and turning away.
Kurumu sweat dropped but gave into her fate. "Okay, does anyone else want any?" she asked, trying to get back into her friends good favour.
"Strawberry please," Moka answered.
"Lemon if it's alright with you," Christian replied, still not looking very happy with the succubus. The look on his face told the succubus girl they were going to have words later.
"Coming right up," Kurumu said before turning to Yukari. "And what do you want?"
"Hmph, I'll tell you when we get there," the witch replied, walking off in the direction of the nearby ice cream store, Kurumu following closely behind, dreading how much money she was going to have left after this.
"I wish those two would get along," Christian sighed when the two had disappeared from sight. "We're friends, we shouldn't fight."
Moka nodded in agreement. "Still…I know Kurumu really does care about Yukari and the vice versa." Christian said nothing as he continued to look in the direction their friends had gone. "They will forget it when they go swimming," Moka added. "I'm sure you will have fun too." Christian was able to detect the slight jealousy in her voice with that last comment. Instantly, the teen felt sorry for Moka. They were at the beach and she couldn't even go swimming. That was something he planned to change.
"Hey Moka, can you wait here for a bit," he asked with a smile.
"Uh-yeah…sure," Moka replied, having absolutely no clue why he wanted her to stay there.
"I'll be back in a second," he told the girl before quickly heading over to where the club had made camp. Looking through his stuff, he found his jacket and pulled out the small, wrapped gift from within his pocket. Smiling to himself, the Plumber teen made his way back to his friend who was currently looking out at the water. "I'm back."
"What were you doing?" Moka asked curiously.
"I was just getting this." Christian presented the pinkette with the small wrapped box he had retrieved. "For you."
Needless to say, Moka was touched by the fact Christian had decided to give her something. Her whole face had turned a bright red. "Th-thank you." She managed to say, taking the wrapped item from Christian and holding it in her hand. "What is it?"
"Open it and find out." Christian told her, nervous about what her reaction would be.
Slowly, Moka tore the small amount of wrapping paper off of gift, her heart pounding in her chest. Inside the paper was a black box that's sides were roughly all the same size. Opening it, Moka was surprised to see a small, metallic black bracelet that had a white seam running around the side. A blue gem was positioned in the centre of it, glowing brilliantly in the light of the sun. Overall, Moka thought it looked beautiful. "Christian…" Moka began, too stunned to say more. "It's-It's…"
"I know it doesn't look like much." Christian started, interrupting whatever Moka was about to say. "However I wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me. I don't believe I've done nearly enough…but I reckon this is a good start." Moka had no idea what to say. Shakily, she removed the bracelet from the box and admired it.
"Christian…thank you…" Moka finally managed to say. "It's beautiful."
"You should put it on," Christian suggested, the hint of a smirk on his face. Nodding, Moka strapped the accessory to left her wrist. She couldn't help but feel bad she hadn't gotten anything for the teen. Once the bracelet was in place, the Plumber teen spoke again. "I have one more surprise for you."
Moka's eyes widened. "You really don't have to…" she began before Christian put up his hands to stop her.
"I know, but I have a feeling you'll like this one. But I need you to close your eyes."
Raising her brow in confusion, Moka did as she was told. Seconds later, the pinkette two warm objects placed over her eyes. The vampire girl was quickly able to work out Christian was covering her eyes in case she tried to look.
Slowly, Christian guided her, first going around in a few circles to throw off her sense of direction. Finally, he began leading her towards the ocean. As they drew closer to the rolling waves in the surf, he slipped his hand down towards Moka's left wrist and the bracelet he had given her. Unnoticed by his vampire friend, the Plumber teen pressed his finger against the gem on the centre.
Suddenly, the gem began to glow blue as an invisible, paper fin, membrane of energy spread over Moka's body. Said vampire had no idea what was happening as she felt something strange pass over her. She could even feel it passing through her hair! Moka wanted to open her eyes to find out what was going on but Christian's hands were still preventing her from seeing. "Trust me," she heard Christian say. "Everything's fine."
Christian looked down towards the bracelet and waited until the gem's glow had decreased slightly, signifying that it was ready. Preparing for what came next, he walked Moka closer to the water. When they were finally right in front of it, the boy leaned in and whispered in Moka's ear. "Try not to freak out."
Moka automatically became worried. Before she could ask anything though, Christian gently pushed her forward into something wet and cold. This sent the girl in to a panic. Her eyes shot open and looked down to see that she was standing ankle deep in the sea. As her eyes widened with fear, she looked back up to see Christian smiling at her. Moka felt betrayed, her best friend had just pushed her into the substance that could potentially kill her. She felt hurt that Christian was trying to hurt her. She felt…fine. Why did she feel fine?
Moka should be feeling electricity coursing through her body but nothing was happening. She didn't feel the purifying effects of the water at all. She looked around herself. She was definitely standing in the water, she could feel it running against her feet; she could feel it in between her toes! "How…?" Moka began, unable to say anything else.
"It's the bracelet." Christian's voice caused the girl to look back at the smiling boy with a look of confusion. "I designed it to be able to cover you with a thin force field that goes over every part of your body to protect you from the effect of the water."
Moka rose her wrist to see that the gem on the bracelet was glowing a dull blue light. "You…you built this?". She had thought Christian had bought it from the campus store.
"Yeah. I used the Plumber tech I have and combined it with Grey Matter's brains to make that for you," Christian explained. "It wasn't a big deal. I just wanted you to experience all the joys of summer."
Moka was overwhelmed. She couldn't believe Christian would actually do something like this for her. "It works like visking tubing used for osmosis experiments." Christian continued to explain. "It only allows in particles that are big enough to fit through the gaps in it. That's why you can still breathe as the air is passing through the field. You can also feel the water against you but when the force field deactivates you will be as dry as a bone."
"That's amazing…" Moka remarked, looking at the small device on her arm in awe.
"Yep. Unfortunately it is still not perfect. At the moment you can stay in the water for about an hour. You'll have to wait forty or so minutes for it to recharge before you can use it again. The gem will begin flashing when you have five minutes left so you will know when you need to get out." Moka listened intently as Christian explained the operations of her new device. "The field also won't last during extremely strenuous activities like fighting so you can't use it in battle. Swimming should be fine though." Moka nodded her head, wriggling her toes as the water passed over them. Christian stepped towards Moka. "To activate or deactivate the force field, just press down on the gem. If you deactivate the force field before the timer is up it will take a few minutes to recharge. Hopefully I will be able to upgrade the bracelet later to give you a shorter recharge time. I doubt you will want to be swimming any longer than an hour."
Moka was over the brim with happiness. She just couldn't believe Christian had gone through all the trouble to give her something that enabled her to do something she had never been able to before. The pinkette rushed forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Christian, who had been surprised and slightly embarrassed at first, quickly came to his senses and returned the hug. "Anytime." He replied. The two teens retreated slightly so they were looking each other in the eyes. Once again the two felt a force of attraction between the two of them. They became lost as the teens began to come closer together, closing their eyes as they did so. Just as their lips were about to touch, they heard the sound of three things plop in the water beside them.
Slowly turning to Moka's right, they found Kurumu and Yukari bug eyed with shocked expressions emblazed on their faces. Yukari was holding an empty ice cream cone and had her tongue out as if she was about to lick something. Looking down they would have seem three scoops of different coloured ice cream floating in the water. Kurumu had an expression similar except her mouth was open as she gawked at the pair in front of them whilst holding a tray that contained three ice cream cones of different colours. However neither girl, much to duos relief, was actually focused on Christian and Moka's faces. Instead, they were looking at where they were standing. More specifically, where Moka was standing.
"Wha-How-She…" they stuttered incoherently as they tried to figure out how Moka was able to be in contact with the water. "WHAT!?" the both finally cried, gaining the looks of anyone who happened to be close to them.
So they didn't draw any more attention to themselves, Christian and Moka quickly explained to the girls about Moka's new bracelet and what it did. Needless to say, the Succubus and Witch were impressed to learn that Christian had found a way for Moka to swim and were happy for their friend that she was now able to do something she had never been able to do before. However, upon learning it was Christian who had made the gift, there was a new problem.
"How come you didn't make me anything?!" Kurumu pouted as she leaned towards the teen, giving him the biggest, saddest eyes he had ever seen.
"Well…you don't have deadly weakness to water," Christian reasoned, now a little uncomfortable.
"You could have given me something regardless," Kurumu countered.
Yukari didn't say anything. She was admiring the craftsmanship of Moka's bracelet. "This is really impressive tech. I can't believe you were able to make something like this."
"I wouldn't have been able to if it weren't for Grey Matter," Christian admitted modestly, turning away from the still ranting Kurumu. "Without the Galvan mind, this wouldn't be possible." Scratching the side of his head he continued. "I just figured that they deserved to have a swim and experience things everyone can."
This caused all the girls to look at him in a confused manner. "They?" Yukari inquired.
"Yeah. I thought that Inner Moka deserved to be able to swim too if she was ever unsealed for a bit," Christian admitted nervously. His statement just served to make Moka feel more touched, Yukari slightly more impressed and Kurumu even more upset.
"You even made something for her!?" she cried, dropping the remaining ice creams as she began shaking Christian to and fro. "Now you are going to have to make it up to me!"
"O-kay-Kur-u-mu-just-ple-ase-sto-op-sha-king-me!" Christian cried desperately as the bluenette continued to shake him. Once Kurumu finally complied, Christian shook his head to try and get out of the daze his friend had put him in. "Well, how about we go swimming then?" He asked, getting enthusiastic reactions from two of the girls and a nervous one from the other.
"Um…" Moka began, wriggling her feet in to the soft floor before she spoke. "I…don't know how to swim…"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Christian sighed as he and the girls returned to their tents for towels, Moka of course didn't need one thanks to her new toy but she followed her friends regardless. After she had told her friends she couldn't swim, he had slapped himself for not thinking about that. Of course Moka wouldn't know how to swim. She had never been able to go swimming before. How could he have been so stupid?
Knowing she didn't have enough time to teach her the basics straight away, the four decided just to play some games for the remaining time she had left. Moka was a nervous about going further in to the water at first but thanks to the bracelet she was fine. Christian had promised to teach her to swim when they returned to Yokai Academy. While Moka and Christian passed the volleyball between the two of them, Kurumu and Yukari somehow managed to get into a water war and began splashing each other. Eventually, the gem on Moka's bracelet began flash signifying it was time to get out.
Once the three who needed to dry off had done so, the group decided just to lay in the sand and look at the clouds. However, when the four looked up, they took notice of a golden glow coming from the top of the cliff that overlooked the beach.
Wanting to investigate, the teens put on their coats/jacket and began looking for a way to safely scale the cliff face. Eventually, Yukari was able to find a path that led directly to the top. As they approached, the club mates tried to guess what was making the glow that they had seen. Upon finally coming to the top, the four were greeted with quite a spectacular sight.
As far as the eye could see were spectacular golden sunflowers that swayed in the wind that carried through the area. Due to the vast amount of flowers, there was an extremely pleasant smell in the air that only added to the beauty of the field.
"It's beautiful…" Moka finally managed to say in absolute awe. The others nodded in complete agreement. Yukari didn't know why but she felt strangely at ease in this area. It was as if none of the dangers of the world could touch her.
The teens walked in to the field, admiring the beauty of the flowers as they passed them. They thought they were alone in the field, however, after a few minutes they heard the voices of some people who happened to be passing by. The teens quickly ducked for cover, they didn't know if the field was private property and knew that it would be bad if they were caught there.
"Aw man…" A male voice complained. "I guess we got lost. Beautiful sunflowers though."
"Oh no…" a female voice spoke. The four hiding teens took note of the woman's worried tone. "We have to get out of here."
"What's wrong? You scared or something?" the male voice asked.
"You don't know? Lots of people have gone missing on this hill," the woman told her companion, making both him and the hiding teens raise their brows. "They say the abductions were caused by a witch angry about the construction going on."
That caused Yukari to gasp. Christian had to quickly place a hand over her mouth.
Unfortunately, the human pair had heard her. The woman eyes widened in fright before grabbing her companions hand and dragging him away from the field. "C'mon!" she cried frightened. "We need to get away!"
"How do you know so much about this place?" the man asked as he was dragged.
"Everyone around here knows," was the woman's only reply before they left the teens' hearing range.
Once they were finally sure the human pair had left, the four friends came back out into the open, each had a thoughtful expression on their face.
Christian and Moka looked worryingly at Yukari who appeared to be slightly nervous as she looked around. It was almost as if she was expecting the witch the woman had mentioned to jump out at them.
Yukari had no idea what to think. Could there actually be another witch on this hill? Was she actually kidnapping humans who found their way on to the hill?
"Are you okay, Yukari?"
The young witch was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Moka's voice. Yukari turned to find that the pinkette was looking down at her with worried smile. Not wanting to be a burden, the girl quickly nodded her head. "Yep! You don't need to worry about me."
"Are you sure?" Christian asked, walking to her other side.
"I'm fine," Yukari replied, waving of the concern of her friends. "I'm sure that the story about a witch abducting people is just a silly rumour made up by some stupid humans." Smiling, Yukari pulled out her wand practically from thin air and gave it a wave. Suddenly a golden washtub fell from the sky and landed on Kurumu's head, causing the teen to fall to the ground. "I'm fine, see!"
Moka and Christian smiled nervously, still not completely convinced. Kurumu on the other hand was quite angry. "What was that for you brat!" she shouted, you could practically see angry fire burning in the girl's eyes.
"Just showing that no one has to worry about me," Yukari countered.
"What does hitting me have to do with you being fine!?" Kurumu demanded, getting in Yukari's face.
"I normally do this when I'm okay," Yukari replied mischievously, once again waving her wand and making another wash tub fall on Kurumu's head, further aggravating the bluenette.
Fortunately, before Kurumu could do anything, Christian stepped between the two. "C'mon guys, we're on holiday. Can we just get along?"
"But she hit me with a wash tub!" Kurumu whined. "Twice!"
"Then you're even for what you said earlier." The Plumber teen stated sternly, making Kurumu feel a little bit smaller having been reminded of her actions. However, Christian then turned to Yukari. "That being said, you shouldn't be using magic in the human world Yukari. What would happen if someone saw you?"
"Sorry…" Yukari said honestly, bowing her head slightly.
"It's alright. There was no harm done," Christian told her, ignoring Kurumu's indignant expression as she pointed to the small bruise on her head. "How about we head back to the campsite and get something to eat. I don't know about you guys but I'm starving."
The suggestion was met with enthusiastic reactions from the girls. Therefore the four departed from the hill and made their way back down to the beach. However, as soon as they left, a figure stepped out of the sunflower field where they had been concealed the entire time. The figure was female, she had long dark hair that came down just past her shoulders but had two pig tails at the sides. She wore a very gothic outfit consisting a dark, sleeveless top and a long, frilly, red dress. In her hands was a long, brown wand that's end was circular with a purple gem suspended in the middle by several poles. The woman's red eyes narrowed as she looked in the direction she had seen the people leave. A small smile appeared on her as she retreated back in the sunflowers.
The woman walked for several minutes until she came to a large house that stood in the centre of the field. It was old and not very inviting, it also looked pretty run down. Sickly, green vines stretched out from the house in to the field. Upon entering it, the woman made her way through dark, vine covered corridors to a room that's door was surrounded by mould and the majority of the vines were spread around the door frame.
Steeling herself, the woman opened the door and took in the familiar surroundings. The room was filled with darkness except the lone ray of light that had been allowed in through the lone uncovered window. The only thing visible was the shape of a rocking chair just on the edge of the light. A hunched figure sat in the chair, casually rocking back and forth.
The woman moved in to the light and dropped to one knee. "Your ladyship," the woman greeted, keeping her head down. "There has been a development."
"Speak, Ruby…" the old, gravelly voice of a woman sounded.
"A girl has come to the hill. A witch. She's young but I sense she holds great power," the woman, now identified as Ruby, reported. "However, she came with three others who I believe to be humans."
"What an interesting development," the woman in the chair replied, never looking back to the younger witch. "We must recruit her for our cause Ruby. We will need every ally we can get in order to protect our land and mete out punishment to the vile humans."
"And if her companions try to stop me?" Ruby asked.
"Eradicate them."
"Very well, your Ladyship," Ruby replied as she got up and bowed. "If her lady demands it, then it shall be done." With those words, Ruby turned on her heel and left the room, seemingly leaving the older witch alone.
After a few moments of silence, the old woman spoke out into the darkness of the room. "It will soon be ready. When it is, the human streets will be red with blood with you and I on the front lines," she said as another figure, shrouded by the darkness of the room stepped forward. "And then, not even this boy that you have told me about will be able to stop us."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When the Newspaper club members had finally returned to their campsite, they found Ms. Nekonome waiting for them. The cat-like teacher had apparently been worried when she returned to find her students missing and had been about to call someone when they returned. Who a Nekomata teacher would call when her monster students had gone missing Christian would never know. It's not like she could go to the human police when there was the danger of them discovering their true identities.
Once the teacher had given them an ear full about not running off, ironic as she had ran off on them to get fish, the five decided to get changed back into the clothing they had brought and make some dinner. Of course they were pretty much forced to have fish as Ms. Nekonome, who believed that they should have seafood as they were camping by the sea. Everyone knew she just wanted the fish. Regardless, as night began to fall, the club members sat around a little fire they had made and ate their dinner in relative peace. Kurumu and Yukari were still bickering about the events that had transpired earlier.
Of course, this just meant that Moka and Christian got to chat whilst eating. Eventually though, once everyone had finished with their meal, Ms. Nekonome went to take a cat nap in her tent and left the teens to their own devices. This gave Christian his chance to do the thing he had been meaning to ever since that morning.
Walking over to his bluenette friend, who had been putting out the fire per instruction, he whispered in her ear, "Can I talk to you for a minute…alone?"
Kurumu felt her heart flutter. Christian wanted to talk to her. Alone. On a beautiful star lit night. Had his feelings for her finally awoken? Had he chosen her over Moka? Excitedly, Kurumu jumped up and practically dragged Christian away from the camp despite the boy's protests. However, the pair's departure did not go unnoticed as their caped friend saw them skulking away.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Christian took Kurumu to a fallen tree trunk that acted as a bench thirty metres away from their campsite. By the time they got there, Kurumu was bursting with anticipation. She was fully expecting this to be a magical moment where two people would admit their love for each other. Of course that fantasy was shattered by Christian's next sentence.
"We need to talk about Yukari," Christian said once he was sure they were alone.
Kurumu couldn't help but feel extremely disappointed. She knew this talk was coming but why did it have to be now of all times? She wanted to protest but the serious look in Christian's eyes told her that he wasn't going to let this slide. "Okay…"
"I want you two to stop fighting," Christian stated, getting straight to the point. "I'm going to say the same thing to Yukari later but I felt I needed to talk to you first." He gestured for the bluenette to sit down on the fallen tree and only continued when she had. "I know that you and Yukari provoke each other but you are older than her and, arguably, more mature. You shouldn't be encouraging her. You're friends and you shouldn't be trying to hurt each other."
"But she-" Kurumu tried to say.
"I know that she starts it sometimes, but so do you," Christian interrupted. "Be the better person and end it before it starts." Kurumu was now looking at the ground guiltily.
"You're right…" Kurumu admitted. "I know that I should treat her better, it's just so hard. She so mature and it's frustrating since I…I tend to act like a kid. Not to mention how clever she is…I just feel a little insignificant when it comes to her. I take what I can as it the only thing I can beat her at."
"Kurumu…You shouldn't feel that way. You and Yukari are different in many ways but it is those differences that defines who you are. Sure, Yukari has traits you don't have, but you have traits she doesn't. You're kind, cute, you think of your friends and those around you and you commit to anything you do. Do you know how many people would kill to have a friend like you?" he asked, making Kurumu blush about the fact he called her 'cute'. When she remained silent, Christian continued. "Besides, you and Yukari are about as childish as each other. You both act stupidly sometimes. You guys are more alike than you think or would like to admit."
Unbeknown to Kurumu and Christian, Yukari was listening in a few meters away, hiding behind some large rocks. She was using her magic in order hear exactly what they were saying. Like Kurumu, Yukari was touched by her friend's words. However she did wish Christian would say some more things about her.
"What do you think about Yukari?" Kurumu asked, as if reading the young witches mind. The girl's interest piqued as her eyes widened in anticipation. This was her chance to find out how Christian truly felt about her.
"Yukari…is quite literally the definition of brilliant." Christian replied honestly. "She's one of the smartest person I know and it's amazing that she was able to skip so many grades. Her magic is useful and effective when it comes to things like battle and everyday things. But she tries too hard to impress. She just needs to be herself, she has nothing to prove." Like Kurumu, Yukari was moved by Christian's words. It would have been perfect for her if Christian hadn't continued. "Yukari means a lot to me. She's like the little sister I never had."
It was at that point anything else Christian was about to say was drowned out as the words he had just said replayed themselves through Yukari's mind on an endless loop. "She's like the little sister I never had. She's like the little sister I never had. She's like the little sister I never had." The words didn't stop and every time they replayed it felt like someone had kicked her. Christian didn't see her as anything more than a little sister? He didn't view her as a candidate for his affections at all? Her mind acted on auto pilot and she found herself stumbling away from her hiding spot and heading towards the place she currently felt was safest, which just happened to be the sunflower field they had discovered earlier that day.
Yukari climbed the path to the top slowly, her mind blank as she continued to replay Christian's words in her head. "She's like the little sister I never had." Yukari came to a halt when she saw the yellow glow of the sunflowers which continued to look beautiful despite the fact night had descended. After a few minutes of remaining motionless, Yukari dropped to her knees, finally allowing tears to flow.
The young witch was heartbroken and at this point it didn't seem like it was ever going to be fixed. So, alone and depressed, Yukari stared out across the field with the weight of the world on her shoulders. "What do I do?" Yukari asked herself, tears rolling down her face. "What do I do?"
"Well, you could try talking to me." A feminine voice said coming from her right, completely shocking Yukari as she whirled around to find no one. "I'm up here." The voice said again, making Yukari look up into a nearby tree that overlooked the field. Looking down at her with a pleasant smile was a beautiful, gothic dressed girl with red eyes and dark hair. Seeing that Yukari was looking at her with apprehension, the woman said soothingly, "Do not worry little witch, I mean you no harm." The woman then jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully a few feet away from Yukari. "My name is Ruby," the woman introduced once she was upright. "And I'm a witch who live atop of this hill."
Yukari's eyes widened in shock. "Y-you're…a witch."
"I am," Ruby replied, still smiling calmly. "May I ask your name?"
Yukari looked at Ruby suspiciously. As she had said, Yukari couldn't sense any ill intentions from the person in front of her but that didn't mean she could trust her. However she felt the same connection with this person that she had when she had stepped foot on the hill that afternoon. For some reason, Yukari felt that Ruby was trustworthy. "I'm Yukari."
"Yukari…" Ruby tried out. "That's a lovely name."
"Th-thank you," Yukari replied, her face turning a red.
"Yukari…can I ask you something?" The older witch requested, causing the younger one to nod.
"If you want..."
"I was just wondering…If you would like to be my friend."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kurumu and Christian were on their way back to the campsite. After their chat, the two decided to ask each other about what it had been like growing up in their respective worlds. Of course, Kurumu had been rather sad when she heard about his lonely childhood but Christian had been rather interested in Kurumu's. Unlike Moka, Kurumu had been home schooled throughout her childhood and had been taught to always be fearful of humans. This information was useful as it meant that Christian now knew an area he would have to tackle if he wanted to achieve peaceful coexistence.
However, as they got closer to the camp, the pair heard the shouts of a Moka calling for them. Oddly, they noticed she was also calling out for Yukari. Automatically, the pair hurried back to find an erratic Moka looking around.
"Christian! Kurumu!" she cried happily upon seeing her friends, running over to them. "Where have you guys been!?" She demanded. "You've been gone for ages!"
"Sorry," Christian replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just talking to Kurumu about Yukari and the way they treat each other." Christian then looked around. "Speaking of which, where is Yukari?"
"She wasn't with you?" Moka asked worryingly.
"No. We thought we left her with you." Kurumu stated.
"Does that mean she ran off?" Moka asked in shock. She couldn't believe Yukari would do something like that.
"Let's split up and look for her," Christian stated. "Moka, Kurumu, you guys look down the beach. She may have just gone for a stroll. I'm going to see if I can use Blitzwolfer to track her down."
The girls nodded and automatically began running down the beach, calling Yukari's name. Once they were gone, Christian raised the Omnitrix and tried to activate it. However, when he touched the face plate a small bolt of green electricity sparked and gave Christian a small shock.
"AH!" he cried, quickly withdrawing his hand and shaking it. "What the hell?" He tried activating it again with more successful results as the holo wheel appeared. 'What was that about?' he wondered as he selected the icon he wanted and slammed down on the core, transforming into green clothed alien werewolf that was Blitzwolfer. Automatically he pressed his nose to the sand and began trying to catch the scent of his witch friend.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yukari and Ruby sat on the edge of a small ledge that overlooked the sunflower field. The two witches had been silent for quite some time.
"Humans are the enemy," Ruby said finally, causing Yukari to listen to the older girl who was simply looking out at the flowers in front of her. "I've spent my entire life suffering by their cruel and selfish hands. They are nothing more than pitiful insects!" she cried with a great amount of anger and distaste. "They are good for nothing! All they do is worthlessly expand their territory and destroy all nature around them! Just look at their cities! We witches listen to the voices of the wind and talk with the spirits. We make the power of nature our own. In cities, nature is destroyed and the spirits are scattered. It is disturbing to witches such as ourselves. Not only will we never understand each other, but there isn't even a reason to try." Ruby turned to the younger girl with pleading eyes. "Humans are nothing more than despicable creatures who wish to destroy this beautiful knoll covered with blooming sunflowers. Yukari…We need your help and your powers to aid us in our battle to defend our world. Will you join us?"
Yukari didn't know what to say. Ruby wanted her to help kill humans. But…Christian was a human. Did that mean she would have to kill him?
She's like a little sister to me.
Yukari found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. What was she going to do?
Thankfully, a bright green flash from behind caught the girl's attention. To Ruby, it meant that a possible enemy had appeared. To Yukari, it meant a lot of heartache. Both girls turned to see Christian standing before them, a look of relief on his face.
"There you are Yukari," he said, looking directly at the young witch, ignoring the look of disgust on Ruby's face. "Me and the girls were really worried about you. They're currently looking for you on the beach."
"I'm sorry," Yukari said sadly, feeling bad that she had made her friends worry. She hadn't thought about them. Moka and Kurumu must be worried sick.
"Who's your friend Yukari?" Christian asked, looking strangely at the seething Ruby.
"Oh right!" Yukari cried, realising Christian didn't know Ruby. "This is-" Whatever Yukari was going to say was cut off when Ruby thrust her wand towards Christian with fury upon her face, the gem in her wand glowing maliciously.
"So you still come and try to defile our hill, human scum!" Ruby cried. Suddenly, three shoots shot out of the ground that rose a fair amount into the air before they began to change into large, green, plant like monsters that were lifted high above the ground by a single vine. They each had red bulb-like sacs hanging like potbellies and above this sac was a mouth filled with sharp, maniacal teeth that bared a resemblance to a Venus flytrap. Each one growled hungrily at the boy in front of them. "Destroy the human!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing her wand directly at Christian. Automatically, the man eating monsters lunged forward teeth bared. Christian however was not worried.
Acting quickly he rose his left wrist and tried to activate the Omnitrix. However, much to his horror, it didn't activate. "NORMAL OMNITRIX FUNCTIONS HAVE CEASED OPERATION," the automated voice of the Omnitrix stated. "OMNITRIX IS CURRENTLY INSTALLING UPDATES FROM GALVAN PRIME."
"No! Not n-AHH!" the Omnitrix wielder cried as one of the creatures bit in to his arm.
"Ruby stop this!" Yukari cried desperately. "Leave him alone!"
"Stay out of this Yukari!" Ruby exclaimed, not taking her eyes off Christian. "Get out of the way!"
Yukari took a step back in fear. She didn't know what to do.
"Run Yukari!" The sound of Christian's voice made Yukari snap round to him. To her complete shock, Christian was fighting off the plant like monsters using his hands to keep them at bay by punching them when they came close. The Omnitrix may not be working but that didn't mean Christian didn't know how to defend himself. He hadn't put up with years of strict training to be eaten by some Florauna wannabe. That didn't mean it didn't hurt though. These things had bitten him several times now and there was blood seeping from his wounds. "Get to the others, tell them what's going on! I'll be fine!"
"But…" Yukari started, only to be interrupted again.
"Go!" Christian cried again, rolling out of the way of one of the creatures as it lunged at him. "Now!"
"Why aren't you using the Omnitrix?" Yukari asked, confused as to why Christian wasn't defending himself properly.
"It's not working!" he replied as he jumped over another one of the creatures. "We need the others! Go and get them!"
Yukari was shaking. She didn't want to leave Christian on his own. If the Omnitrix wasn't working then it was highly likely her friend would die long before she was able to come back with help. But Yukari didn't know what to do. She didn't believe she was strong enough to do this alone.
"What have you ever done?" The words Kurumu had spoken earlier flashed through her mind. "All you ever do is use those stupid washtubs! In battle you're are biggest liability." As the words replayed in her head, Yukari found herself becoming more determined.
"I'll show her…" she said quietly, pulling out her wand and raising it into the air. "I can fight too!" She cried as her wand began to glow brightly, bringing everyone's attention to the girl.
"Yukari, what are you doing!" Ruby questioned, covering her face from the bright light.
Suddenly, Yukari's vast amount of tarot cards began to fly out of a small pouch attached to her side, small pairs of luminescent wings attached at their sides. With a wave of her wand, Yukari sent the cards flying at rapid speeds towards the plant monsters surrounding Christian. The cards proceeded to rip the monsters to ribbons, leaving chlorophyll like blood all over the ground.
Seeing that his adversaries were down for the count, the Omnitrix teen collapsed to one knee, too tired to even stand. "Christian!" Yukari called, running over to her friend's side. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good…" Christian managed to get out, placing a hand over his bloodied arm. "Just admiring your handiwork. That was amazing Yukari." He complimented.
Yukari however was still upset and proceeded to speak very quickly as she let out her feelings. "I'm sorry I ran off. It's just that I heard you telling Kurumu how I was like a sister to you and it made me sad as I wanted you to see me as more than that."
Christian was honestly quite shocked. He hadn't expected to hear that. Slowly, and a little uncertainly, he pulled the hurting girl into a gentle hug "Yukari…I'm sorry you feel that way. I do care deeply about you, but I see you as more of a little sister than anything else." Hearing that, Yukari wanted to cry. It was harsher when being said to her directly. "But Yukari, that's not a bad thing. Do you have any idea how important that makes you to me?" Yukari was now confused. "I told you my parents died. They were the only family I had. When they were gone, I was all alone. I had no one left. But I consider you a sister. That makes you family and one of the closest people to me." Yukari was touched. She hadn't thought of it that way at all. "I may not love you the way you want me to and I'm sorry about that, but I will always be there for you whenever you need me." Small tears were beginning to form in Yukari's eyes as she returned the hug. Maybe...just maybe she could accept being the little sister, especially if it meant Christian wouldn't be so alone anymore.
Unfortunately the heart-warming scene was broken by the sound of more plant monsters shooting out of the ground. The pair turned to find about a dozen of the monsters from before growling at them angrily. Ruby, who was unable to comprehend what she had been seeing, was now summoning out more creatures in order to end the fight quickly. "How!?" she demanded. "How can the bond between a witch and a filthy human be more powerful than that between two sister witches!?" With a wave of her wand, Ruby sent her forced towards the pair. "Kill the human but spare the girl!" Ruby ordered. "She may yet be useful!"
Yukari reacted immediately, getting up and swinging her wand in an arc, bringing out more of her magical tarot cards into the fray. "I won't let you get anywhere near him!" she cried, sending her cards into the fray. The cards and plants met half way with disastrous results for the latter. As soon as the razor sharp cards met the plant monsters they were turned into ribbons, spilling more of their green blood on to the ground.
At this point Christian once again tried to activate the Omnitrix only to be met with the same results as earlier. It had said something about an update but didn't say how long it would take for it to become active again. Lowering his arm in defeat, Christian knew that he could do nothing else but watch and support Yukari.
"Why are you standing against us Yukari?!" Ruby demanded with a voice full of wonder, using her wand to make more of the creatures grow. "He can't even use magic!"
"That doesn't matter to me!" Yukari responded, sending more of her cards at the plants. "Christian was one of the first people to ever to be kind to me! I won't let you hurt him!" The battle continued to go on with Ruby summoning more plants and Yukari slicing them apart with her cards. As time passed, the floor became coated with the bodies of the plant monsters as well as some of Yukari's tarot cards that had lost their momentum and had fallen. Eventually though, the amount of monsters being summoned began to dwindle as well as the speed of the cards Yukari had in her control. Both girls were tired and fatigued having expended so much of their magical energy.
Finally, both girls' assaults ceased, both were now panting heavily as they took in massive amount of oxygen. Too tired to do anything else, Ruby dropped to one knee whilst Yukari almost collapsed. She would have hit the ground if Christian hadn't caught her in time and helped steady her.
"This fight is over!" Christian shouted, talking to both girls. "I won't stand here any longer and watch you both exhaust yourselves!" He then turned to the older witch who was giving him a death glare despite her tired state. "Ruby, was it? I don't care that you attacked me but I won't let you take Yukari with you. She's a member of my club and that's not going to change." Christian turned to the panting Yukari. "Are you okay?"
Smiling weakly, the younger girl nodded. "Don't…worry about…me." She told him in between breaths. "I'm tougher…than I look."
"You did great Yukari," Christian told her with a smile of his own. "Now just focus on getting some rest."
"CHRISTIAN! YUKARI!"
The people in question turned back to see Kurumu and Moka running towards them. "Thank god you two are okay." Kurumu said once the pair had reached them. "What the hell happened here?" She demanded, having seen the vast amount of plant monsters that now littered the ground.
"We were attacked by these things." Christian replied before looking at Yukari proudly. "The Omnitrix wasn't working so Yukari fought them all off on her own. It was amazing." The witch in question blushed slightly. She now knew Christian only saw her as a sister but it still felt nice to be complimented by him.
The older girls were gobsmacked. Yukari had really defeated all these monsters single handed. How much power did she truly have?
"Why, Yukari?" Ruby asked, catching everyone's attention.
"Who's that?" Moka asked, eyeing Ruby nervously.
"No clue," Christian stated, also turning to watch Ruby in case she tried to do anything. "Only just met her, it wasn't the best of greetings either."
"Perhaps we should teach her some manners," Kurumu suggested, pounding her fist against her hand as she glared angrily at Ruby.
"No," the three looked towards Yukari, who was the one who had just spoken, in confusion. Shakily, the girl walked to the front of her friends. "Ruby…I'm sorry but I can't go with you. I have friends who are important to me and I don't want to leave them." The girl then bowed. "Goodbye." The girl then turned on her heel and began walking away, leaving four shocked teens to stare after her.
Kurumu was the first to recover from her shock. Quickly, the succubus rushed after her. "Hey! Wait up! Don't push yourself!" The girl cried as she caught up to the young witch.
"I'm fine. We witches are excellent healers."
Moka and Christian watched the two walk away before turning to each other and chuckled. "I'm glad you're both okay," Moka said once they had finished. "We came back to the campsite and neither of you were there. We then heard the sounds of a battle coming from the top of the hill and I was so worried. Kurumu and I rushed up here as quickly as we could. I'm so glad you're okay."
"Moka…I'm sorry that I worried you and Kurumu," Christian replied, smiling reassuringly. "You know that I don't do it on purpose."
"It doesn't stop you from getting into the situations that worry us though," Moka pointed out, causing them both to chuckle again. "Sometimes I wonder why we put up with you."
"I wonder why too," the Plumber teen admitted sheepishly before he looked the vampire in the eyes seriously. "Moka…There's something I…I want to tell you." Moka's eyes widened slightly…hoping that this was what she had wanted to hear ever since the events with Ms. Ishigami, perhaps even before that. "Moka…I-"
Christian was cut out by a sickening squelching sound as blood sprayed out from his body as a long green vine burst from his chest. Both teens were silent. Christian, because his body was going in to shock. Moka, because her mind hadn't registered what she had seen. After a moment of agonising silence, the vine lifted up, dragging Christian up in to the air.
"CHRISTIAN!" Her exclamation caught the attention of the two other girls who were on the hill. All at once they covered their mouths in shock, not able to believe what they had just seen.
"I will take Yukari back with me," Ruby's voice declared, not that anyone was listening at this point. Apparently the girl had enough strength left to perform one last attack. "Because her ladyship demands it." With those words, the vine holding the currently gasping Christian up retracted from his body, forcing the boy to fall limply to the ground.
"CHRISTIAN!" The female members of the Newspaper club exclaimed together, rushing to their friend's side.
"Tell us what to do!" Moka begged. "Tell us what to do!"
Christian coughed up blood as he tried to speak, his blood pooling around him. After a few attempts, his body came still and his eyes became dark.
"Christian! Christian!" Kurumu shouted desperately.
"No…not again…" Yukari gasped, tears appearing in her eyes.
"Christian..." Moka tried only to get no response. "Christian…wake up…please wake up…" Still no reply. Suddenly, the Rosario began to twitch and glow as demonic energy began to grow around the pinkette. Finally, when she was sure that Christian wasn't going to get up, the built up energy exploded upwards.
Ruby was almost thrown back by fearsome energy that was being sent at her in waves. She was temporarily blinded for a second…but when she was able to see again, Ruby found that the girls pink hair had turned platinum silver, her eyes blood red and slit and that her body had slightly filled out. The silver cross on her choker was being thrown around by frightening aura the girl was emitting. The red gem in the centre was glowing brightly, something inside it bubbling beneath like boiling water.
"HOW DARE YOU!?" the voice of the bluenette sounded, making Ruby look at her in time to see a pair or demonic wings burst out of her back, her nails becoming long and sharp blades. Her eyes glowed demonically with a burning hatred. "HOW DARE YOU?!"
"Wha-what are you?" Was the last thing Ruby managed to ask before the two girls charged forward, promising only death. It was then that Ruby's world went dark, her entire being engulfed in pain.
All the while, everyone failed to notice the touch screen of the Omnitrix turn red.
"OMNITRIX USER'S LIFE IS IN PERIL. OMNITRIX UPDATE HAS BEEN PAUSED. BEGINNING SURVIVAL PROTICAL ELEVEN. RELEASING TEN PERCENT OF STORED UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And there you go. I hope you enjoyed it and I ask that you leave your thoughts in the reviews so I know what went well and what I can improve. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a PM.