Note: I'm so sorry, guys. I have weekly writing assignments in one of my classes, which is cutting into this, big time.
Celestial Warrior Moon:
Disclaimer:I do not own any Sailor Moon related properties. Sailor Moon is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the opus. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.
Drew L.: Thank you. I actually had to do a lot of research into what Scottish villagers look like to get this done.
Ashen Author: I was hoping you'd like despite the lack of action. I'm glad I was able to please. That 'ray of hope' was exactly the feeling I was aiming for with that chapter cliffhanger. The fun begins in this chapter. ;)
"I like how they try the peaceful and sensible option, first. You're really going a long way to keep the Keepers from coming off as inept or extremist and it's working wonderfully." That is a relief, actually. I'm eternally worrying about that. I just my best to justify this secret order and it's very gratifying to see it paying off. As for Flau and Morga: yes, their species origin will be revealed in this chapter. I've never thought of myself as 'being awesome', but I will keep giving my best.
LoveInTheBattleField: Just you wait 'til next time.
FishWolf: Oh, I will!
SomeOfTheFame: And as always, I wouldn't be doing as well without my beta reader. Thank you.
Chapter 35
The Battles of Wyvern Hill, First Rounds
Usagi glanced up at the youthful minister as he came up to her. She noticed his cross and the white collar, denoting his position as a reverend.
"McCoy," her thoughts registered.
"Hello," he greeted, pleasantly.
He put one foot up on the bottom step and leaned forward, resting his forearm on it.
"Can I help you in some way?" he asked.
He seemed to be uncertain of what to make of her, but had an earnest look about him, which made Usagi manage a weak smile.
"Boy, I sure hope you can," she answered.
McCoy blinked. He seemed a little confused by that statement, but she could tell he read her eyes. Usagi swallowed nervously.
"Man, when they told me to bear all my insecurities to this guy to get close and stay close, I knew it'd be hard, but I'm downright embarrassed by this!" she thought, mind reeling all the way.
He spoke again, taking her out of her introspective.
"Well, then, what seems to be the problem?" McCoy asked.
"Alright, he's taken the bait!" Makoto whispered excitedly into her earpiece. "The target has approached Moon Bunny and their talk is in progress."
She retreated fully behind the tombstone she was using as cover. She then glanced behind her towards another headstone, which Ami was seated in the grass behind as her hiding spot. She was typing command after command into the keyboard.
"Roger that. All looks clear on this end," Haruka answered.
She stood leaning against the side of a building just around the corner at the end of the block across the street. She was keeping a sharp eye on all who approached the road that led to St. Peter and Paul's.
"How are things looking from the archer's perspective?" Haruka asked.
Warrior Mars surveyed the village below from her vantage point on top of the church bell tower. Her bow was readied and the string of fire was formed and held firmly in her gauntleted fingers.
"No sign of suspicious movement from here," Mars reported.
"Good. Ami, picking up anything strange with your mini-comp?" Haruka asked.
The brainy one peeked around the side of her hiding spot towards Makoto, who gave her the thumbs up, before turning her attention back to her device.
"Yes. Including the preacher, himself, we have nine dark auras in town. The other eight are all en route to this general location. They're all advancing from different sides," Ami answered into her earpiece. "I'd say we have about fifteen…maybe twenty minutes before they arrive."
"Are any approaching from the field?" Haruka asked.
"No, they're all in town, coming from the South and East," Ami answered.
Haruka silently thanked the Fates. Then she glanced around again before speaking into the headset.
"Alright, then, hold your positions and keep a sharp eye out until they get closer," she instructed. "We have to do everything in our power to give Usagi enough time to convince that man to get out of town."
"Roger!" came three enthusiastic responses.
Then Haruka grabbed a black box attached to her pants belt and turned a dial on the side.
"Hello, Luna? Come in," she said.
"This is Luna. Over," came a response.
"Luna, we're all in position over here, and The Dark Kingdom's agents are heading our way. Are the Keepers in position yet?"
"Partially. I'll report to you when we've set up the perimeter. If the Dark agents come before we're ready, stall for time."
Haruka cursed under her breath, but bowed her head compliantly, anyway.
"Yes, ma'am."
Luna walked up to a parked car and opened up the passenger side door. She climbed in next to a man in a gray T-shirt and torn jeans. He had a buzz cut and a shaggy facial adoring his dark features. His skin denoted a man of fixed heritage, but with a lot of African. The only hints that he was anything other than a civilian were his sidearm which was nestled comfortably in its holster strapped to his person. He also had an earpiece of his own.
"Youma have begun gathering. My men are in getting into position," he said without looking at her.
He started the car and pulled out of the parking space.
"With them still disguised in their human forms, we won't know who we're dealing with," he then added.
"It's alright, Rogers," Luna replied, while she belted in. "You and your men were picked for your readiness and ability to think on your feet. As long as your men think as fast as they usually do, we should be able to take care of those youma."
He looked at her for the first time, coolly, before turning back to the road.
"I hope your right. The problem is we've never had to protect someone the Dark Kingdom wanted this bad before," Rogers answered.
"Just treat the same as you would any other mission," Luna commented.
Usagi patted a spot on the stone step next to her, signifying that she wanted McCoy to sit next to her. After a moment of contemplating it, he did exactly that. He looked at her, giving her his full attention. Usagi bowed her head and sighed one final time while mentally trying to organize her hands. She righted herself and held her hands, palms up, as she thought about where to start.
"So what's your name?" McCoy asked.
"Oh, me," Usagi asked.
She paused to think about it.
"Just call me…Serena," she said, recalling her cover name.
McCoy smiled and extended a hand for a handshake.
"Well, then, Serena, my name is Leonard Sylvester McCoy, but you can just call me Leonard."
"Okay…Leonard," Usagi replied, accepting the gesture.
"Well, time to begin," she thought.
She steeled herself, and…
"Okay…" she started, and then paused.
Her mouth still gaped open as she struggled to find what was right at the end of her tongue. Leonard sat almost perfectly still, waiting for the girl to finish. All the while he had an air of patient.
"As you can probably guess…I'm from out of town," she said.
Leonard nodded in response.
"Ay. Not many around here have a haircut like yours', lass," he said, half-grinning.
Usagi let out a chuckle and ran a hand over her hair, feeling one of her buns, and then trailed it down along one of her long pigtails.
"Yeah… So I noticed…" she said, smiling shyly.
"So what brings ya to our fair little corner of the world?" Leonard asked earnestly.
Usagi shrugged.
"Um…well, my parents and I are on a little vacation here. …Though you could say this is a release from the troubles at home."
Leonard turned his head slightly more towards her in response to that.
"Troubles at home?" he asked.
"Yeah…you can say that again…" Usagi said heavily.
"What kind of troubles?" Leonard asked.
Usagi let out a hopeless laugh, while raising an eyebrow.
"Several," she blurted out.
Leonard nodded understandingly.
"I see. Well, you're at an age where a lot of things start to change in a young person's life, and in many ways."
"Understatement of the century," Usagi said under her breath.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing!" Usagi said, coyly, putting on her cheeriest smile.
It soon faded as a solemn aura took over. She looked away him and looked around with her eyes, aimlessly.
"It's just lately… lately…" Usagi stammered softly.
She took in a breath.
"I came here because everyone said this was the place to go when you have problems. Well, I've had a lot of responsibility piled on top of me, and I'm not sure I can handle it all. I'm afraid that I can't live up everyone's expectations…"
She lowered her head and put both hands on the back of it, intertwining the fingers.
"And a lot of the people around me are having problems, too, and I try to help, but…"
By now, her face was red from embarrassment and she was almost in tears thinking about all her problems.
"…And I just don't know what to do. I feel so alone sometimes even though I know I have friends and family around me," she said in a shaky voice.
By now Leonard was giving the girl a very sympathetic look.
"I see," he said simply, in a quiet voice.
He leaned and craned his head down to see her face. She looked over at him in response to gesture. Her eyes told him a complete story. It was the story of a girl with a lot that had been placed on her plate, and it sure seemed to be overflowing.
With that last statement about feeling alone, Leonard knew exactly what to say.
"This is not an uncommon problem among people. Everyone feels alone in their troubles sometimes, but you have to understand that it just isn't true."
Usagi and Leonard's eyes met, and with deep conviction and sincerity, Leonard continued.
"You are never alone, so long as you have people around you who love you. Now, I don't pretend to know what faith you come from, but it doesn't matter. You're here, and that's all that does matter, and I can tell you take your responsibilities seriously, or else you wouldn't be asking for advice like you are now. That's a good place to start," Leonard said, and smiled.
"Well, that's good, but that's just a start," Usagi answered.
Leonard nodded in respond.
"Yes, yes, it is just a start. Well… It would help if I knew some of the particulars of your circumstances," Leonard said.
Usagi looked down.
"I'm…not really comfortably talking about them too directly…" she said, her voice full of uncertainty.
"I see. Well, if all else fails, there is one who will always be with you in all your days, worries, and struggles. He sits on high, and sees you at all times, even if it is out of the corner of His eye," he said. "You can talk about all your problems with Him."
"What about people?" she asked.
"Well, if you'd rather take your problems to other people, I'm sure there's someone in your life you can talk to about anything. Although, people are flawed creatures, and we don't always have the best advice. Like me, without knowing the specifics of your situation, I can only help you so far," Leonard answered.
He gestured upwards.
"He always knows, and He'll help you if you just ask Him in ways no one down here can."
He turned back to her.
"But back to people: things are difficult all over right now, what with these strange creatures and other such things appearing and causing many grief. Apart from that, even day to day things can be difficult to handle. Everyone has to deal with these things. Believe me, there are people around who will understand your worries and you can find help to lighten the burden. You are never alone."
Usagi nodded her head slowly as she listened, but she had a question.
"If there's an All-knowing kind God sitting up in Heaven, then why are things so difficult down here?" she asked.
Leonard paused and thought that for a moment before answering.
"Well, lass, that's because it's in times of tribulation that we both find out what we're really made of and we show Him we've got in there."
He gestured to his heart.
"I thought you said He always knows," Usagi replied, confused.
"Well, knowing what we can do is one thing, but He likes to see action taken," Leonard replied.
Usagi shrugged at that.
"I guess that makes sense."
"Life is a journey, and one that we must all take. Hardships come our way, and we can learn from them, or worry, fret, or even become bitter about them."
Usagi let out a long whoosh of air.
"I'm trying to learn from my experiences," she said in a high voice.
"Good! That's the attitude to take, but whatever you do, just remember: you can't do it all alone."
Usagi laughed, almost sullenly.
"Try telling that to them," she spoke in a low voice.
"Well, if anyone has pushed everything on just you, they were wrong to do so. No one is an island, and no can fight through their struggles, whatever they are, alone. Trust the people around you. Confide in them. Let them confide in you. Learn from them, and give them something to take away, in return."
Then Leonard smiled.
"And trust in yourself. You are never not enough, no matter what anyone tells you. No matter what life throws at you, it is never more than we can handle."
"I screw up a lot, though," she said.
"Well, tell you what, lass, you're also not alone in that. We all make a right mess of things, sometimes," Leonard replied light-heartedly. "Just keep moving forward. Remember your mistakes, but don't let them rule you. Try again, and not just harder, but smarter."
Usagi smiled without a trace of sorrow or worry for the first time since their talk began.
"You know, I had my doubts about coming to this church, but you're pretty smart," Usagi said.
Leonard bashfully shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I'm just repeating from I've learned from experience and from reading a good book," he said, modestly.
There was a sudden crackling in Usagi's earpiece. She looked from Leonard in its general direction as it caught her attention, and after a moment, she heard…
"Usagi, we have monsters coming in about a block away! Get Reverend McCoy out of there!" Ami's voice suddenly sounded in her earpiece.
"Huh? What was that?" Usagi exclaimed, shooting up from her spot on the steps.
McCoy jolted in surprise at the outburst and looked at her with a bewildered stare.
"What?! They're already here?!" Usagi cried.
"Affirmative! Everyone be on your guard," Ami instructed.
"Dang it! Right, I'm on it!" Usagi said, and to Leonard's eyes, apparently to no one.
She turned towards him again with a determined and serious expression on her face, and his own stare became no less bewildered. She reached into one of the pockets on her skirt and pulled out what looked like a knife handle with slits at both ends.
"Reverend McCoy, you wanted to know the particulars of my circumstances. I didn't want to do this, but now it seems I have no choice. Here, let me show you!" Usagi announced, boldly.
She held the item aloft and her body became engulfed in blinding white light. Leonard cried and jumped back, almost falling down the steps in the process. And then when the light faded, in place of the girl he'd just been consoling was a beauty in silver armor holding a double bladed sword. He jaw fell open as he stared at her, wide eyed.
"S-Sere-ena?!" he gaped.
She lowered the sword to her side and extended a hand for him to take.
"She did it. She did actually it," Makoto thought as she watched the scene unfold.
"Hello, I'm Celestial Warrior Moon, and I'm here to save your life. Believe it or not, Reverend McCoy, but you're in great danger. Dark creatures are coming for you," she explained in an unwaveringly level and grim voice.
"Wh-what? But why? How?" he asked, looking around.
"Those monsters you've been hearing about on the news. Well, they've infiltrated your village disguised as ordinary people. They're here because they want you!" she insisted.
"Me?" McCoy blurted out.
Moon nodded her head.
"They want to turn you into one of them. And they can do it. Believe me!" she said.
Leonard was speechless. Absolutely nothing she had just said made any sense, but he did recognize the suit she wore. He opened his mouth to speak, but only babbles came out at first.
"You… What… B-b-but… What? What?! You're one of those soldier girls I've been hearing about!"
Moon stiffened at the response, but did not let her hand drop. Instead, she stepped forward, leaned down, and grabbed one of his arms and pulled back, trying to drag him to his feet.
"I know this can't make a lot of sense, but you have to believe me. Both your life and the lives of everyone in this town are in danger every minute you're still here," she explained.
Leonard pulled his arm back, breaking her grip of it.
"How?! And why me?" he demanded in a confused tone.
Moon grunted in frustration.
"I already told you! They're looking for people they can turn into monsters!"
"I got that, but why just me and not the whole town?" McCoy demanded.
Moon bit her lip. She had no idea how to explain that without sounding even more insane. Finally, she just sighed.
"Look, it's because you're the most viable choice right now! They can't just turn anyone into monsters. It has to be a certain someone with unique energy! They have dark powers that can do it, too! Remember the crab monster that trashed downtown Tokyo from about a week back? The one everyone says started out as an ordinary man? Well, it's true and, he was just the first!"
She pointed right at him.
"And you're number two!"
She dropped her arm to her side. Her shoulders slumped. She knew how confused he had to be right now.
"Listen, Leonard, you're a man of faith. Well, I'm asking you to believe in me. Just for a little while, please," she said softly, and begging. "I know this has to be hard to take, but there are all sorts of things that can't be easily explained going on right now, and right now, this is one of those weird things. If you don't trust me, I don't know if I can stop them. I want to keep them from getting you. I really want to keep them from getting you. Everything you've heard on the news about monster attacks, kidnappings by monsters, and people turning into monsters are all true, I swear. So, please…"
She extended her hand again. He looked right into her eyes. He recalled seeing the crustacean creature on the news and hearing that it was once a man, but he'd not fully believed it. However, here he was face-to-face with one of the people who had fought the monster, and she was telling him that's the way it was.
"What would happen to me if I change?" he muttered.
"You'd die," Moon replied.
He felt a chill run down his spine. The words sounded far-fetched, but here this warrior girl was right in front of him. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden screams in the distance. Both he and Moon looked back towards where they were coming from.
"BEAST! Oh, God, someone help! There are some kinds of beasts!" they heard someone shout.
McCoy leapt up from where he was sitting as the sounds of the panicked crowd came closer and he even heard what sounded like a car wreck not far away. He turned back to her and looked into her pleading eyes.
In that instant, he saw only genuine motives in her eyes. He certainly couldn't deny the existence of those inhuman entities after seeing and hearing the proof for himself. She said that dark things were coming for him to make him one of their own and now he was hearing that claim backed by distant the reactions of the townspeople. Could he really deny it? So he looked at that arm reaching out towards him, and this time, he took it.
Eight figures gathered on a street corner, all women. Seven of the others all faced the last of them, who stood off by herself. She turned to face them. Her brown eyes and hair changed into the greenish-blue color they truly were and she revealed herself to be the Atlantian Aqua. Aqua looked around her subordinates, who had cast off their disguises already. They had discovered someone tailing them and had dealt with him swiftly.
"Flau, Iguara, Kyurene, Derella, Grape, Housenka, Suzunan," she said, turning to each and identifying them. "Ah, good, you're all here."
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" they saluted.
She grinned and motioned for them to be at ease.
"You are all youma, born of this world from your mothers. Well, today, we awaken one of your betters born from their mother and true leader of our kingdom, who fell from the stars many eons ago. You all came highly recommended from your respective units for this mission, so I expect nothing short of the best from each of you," Aqua said to them, giving them all a stern looking over.
She pointed to Flau.
"Flau, Derella, and Iguara, you're with me. Grape, Housenka and Suzunan, you're our front line. Kyurene, you back them up," Aqua explained.
Then she turned to a last youma who hide herself in the shadows out of sight. The youma the Keepers had not seen. She nodded knowingly to her commander.
"You know what to do," Aqua said to her.
"Yes, Commander, ma'am. My task is clear," the last answered, almost quivering with anticipation.
"Good," Aqua replied, smirking.
"As is ours'," Grape said eagerly.
Aqua looked at her, very pleased at her enthusiasm.
"Good. Keep up that keenness, but don't lose your head out there, or else figurative expression just might become reality. The Keeper unit is scattered all over this town and we have reason to believe that the Warriors have come as well. We have a real fight on our hands. Stick to the plan, and we will win," Aqua said.
"Don't worry about that, Commander. We're ready," Kyurene rasped, grinning from ear to ear.
She then turned to the three youma who fell in line with her.
"Now, ladies, everyone has their Dark Seed?" Aqua asked
The seven youma each reached into the front of their shirts and pulled out a necklace from which a vial hung. Inside was some kind of pinkish-red liquid in which a black seed floated.
"Good. I don't have to tell you that you are not to use them unless you have been brought to the absolute most desperate need. There is no coming back from the effects," Aqua said, dead seriously.
"Yes, ma'am," her subordinates replied.
"Excellent. Now, ladies, let us begin our reign of terror upon this little burg. Flush out the Keepers. Keep the road clear for our allies!" Aqua ordered.
Moon helped Leonard to his feet. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, Serena, you came and shared all your worries with me, and now that you've shown me…this," Leonard said, moving his open-palmed hand up and down gesturing to her armor. "I know more than ever what you meant about having a lot of responsibility to carry around."
Then he smiled kindly.
"I can't deny the proof in front of me. I believe you," he said.
Moon tried to hide another sigh of relief.
"That's a load off, considering how skeptical I'd be," she said.
"I'll bet. So what'll we do?" Leonard asked.
"I'm so glad you asked!" a voice from above shouted.
Leonard looked down and saw something red descend from the roof of the church. He cried out and stumbled up to the top of the steps and towards the door as it fell down towards them. Then it landed on the sidewalk in front of the building in a crouching position with its back turned to them. Then it turned around and Leonard calmed down immediately. It was another of them Warrior woman, the red one.
"Sheesh, Mars. Dramatic entrance much?" Moon chided her.
"Hey, some of us know how to make an entrance!" Mars replied proudly, brushing a hand through her long hair, tossing it back, causing it to flip up.
Moon rolled her eyes and turned then back to Mars with an unimpressed look.
"Friends of yours'?" Leonard asked.
"Only in the loosest of terms," Moon grumbled.
Mars stuck out her tongue at Moon in response.
"My protectors. I'm so filled with confidence," Leonard thought, sardonically.
"Hey, Bunny of the Moon, want us to come out and introduce ourselves yet?" Makoto's voice suddenly crackled.
"Yeah, go ahead," Moon replied.
A pair of bright flashes to their left alerted them to the fact that Jupiter and Mercury had geared up. Leonard and the pair looked over and saw the green and blue armored Warriors emerge from the graveyard. Haruka appeared around the corner. She stayed there and alternated from looking around at the streets leading towards the church and at them.
"So your gang was here watching our conversation the whole time?" Leonard asked, unsure how he felt about that.
Moon looked away from him.
"Sorry about that. It was necessary that we make contact, but I promise that everything we talked about was real," she responded.
"I never doubted that for an instant," he said, kindly.
He looked at each of the four Warriors.
"You certainly came prepared…" he muttered.
"Yeah, well…" Moon stammered.
Before she could continue, her earpiece crackled.
"I'll bring up the rear," Haruka said over the line. "Just take Preacher Man and get him out of town."
"Roger!" Moon replied.
She turned to Leonard and grabbed one of his hands.
"This way! We're heading out into the field behind the church, Leonard!" Moon said hastily as she started dragging the reverend along.
"But why are we heading out here?" He asked, confused.
"Because there's going to be a fight, and we don't want to involve the village anymore than we have to!" Moon replied.
Leonard nodded his head and ran after her. Behind him, he could hear the other three armored knight-like young ladies bringing up the rear.
"It's a good thing he was so willing to believe her," Mars thought. "I thought we'd practically have to force him to leave town, but I wonder what made it so easy for him to just believe the outrageous story he was told."
They dashed around the side of the church and out into the open grassy field.
"Okay, Keepers are in position," Luna announced over the line.
"Okay!" Moon answered as she continued to run. "We have Preacher Man and we are getting out of town!"
"Good. We're nearby. As soon as Aqua and her agents make their move, we'll start the attack," Luna answered. "Luna, out."
"Yes," Moon said, and was about to concentrate of getting a move on again, but then another voice entered the line.
"I'll be ready to back you up, too, My Pretty Suited Soldier." It was Phantom Mask.
"Ma-Mask?!" Moon exclaimed. "How long have you been here?!"
"Since before you arrived. I've been on the lookout for the Dark Kingdom's agents, too. Not to worry. I'm nearby. Just keep going. I'll meet up with you shortly. Orion and I are both here, in fact," Mask explained.
They entered the field and then kept going until they started to leave Wyvern Hill behind them. When they finally stopped around thirty yards from the town, McCoy and Mercury were both panting for breath. Mercury stood wobbling on bent knees clutching her chest while she took in several heavy breaths. McCoy leaned forward with his hands resting on his knees.
"Get it together!" Mars barked at Mercury.
Mercury just nodded her head and straightened up. Then Moon, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury formed a square around McCoy facing outward. They went into their battle stances and waited for their opponents to come out to them.
"An evil aura is coming toward us!" Mars uttered in an unvaried tone.
The other looked turned to her, nodded, and scanned the area around them again. Suddenly, Jupiter stopped and went very still.
"Hey, does anyone else feel that?" she asked.
The others exchanged a glance and then turned back to her while she looked around frantically around looking at the ground.
"No, feel wha-?" Moon asked to ask.
Jupiter spun around dived towards her and McCoy.
"LOOK OUT!" she shouted.
She tackled them both to the side. McCoy let out a pained "oof!" as he was sandwiched between two bodies covered in hard suits of armor, but no one had any time to ponder that. The ground exploded right where they had been! The force knocked Mars and Mercury back. While Mars maintained her balance and caught her footing before falling, Mercury was not so fortunate and landed roughly on the ground on her side.
Jupiter turned herself over and pushed up off the ground with her legs, jumping into a standing position. She faced whatever had just burst through the ground right under where McCoy had been standing. Dust and rock will flew around, but that didn't stop Jupiter from setting eyes on the new presence that stood in the center of it all. There were three of them. The antenna on her mask, as well as her gauntlets and greaves all sparked with energy. Earth rumbled nearby as Jupiter began wiggling hunks of it free, but she wasn't pulling it up just yet.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jupiter saw the glow of fire and knew that Mars was already taking aim. Behind her, she heard one of Moon's blades dig into the ground. She heard liquid churning in the air not far away as well. Confident that she had back up, Jupiter decided to speak to these attackers.
"Identify yourselves," she ordered.
"Oh, my, how scary," one of them replied sarcastically.
Jupiter mentally ordered the dust away and it immediately cleared. Before them were three youma. All three were highly humanoid females, but it seemed like they were plant-based, somehow. The one standing on the left had skin that ranged from dark-to-light purple. Leaves poked out of her skin all over her. She wore a leotard that matched her skin coloration, making her almost look naked. The one in the middle what almost human looking skin, if just slightly tinted pink. Where hair would normally go, she had hot pink flower pedals growing out of her head almost in the fashion of curly hair. She wore a green leotard, making herself look almost like a flower, herself. And the last one, standing on the right was green all over. Her skin was light green, as was her hair, though a much darker shade. She wore havoc gear, so the Warriors immediately guessed who the practical one was.
"We're the Flora sisters!" the one to the left announced. "I'm Grape!"
The one of the middle spoke next.
"I am Housenka!"
"Suzunan," the green one said.
"And we're taking him!" Grape pointed right at McCoy.
Mars and Mercury closed in from the sides, putting themselves between the three youma and McCoy as well.
"Over your dead bodies," Jupiter said threateningly.
"Don't you mean, 'Over my dead body'?" Grape asked.
"Oh, that can be arranged!" Mars spoke up eagerly pointing three fire arrows at the trio of youma.
The three youma began to approach then. Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury stood in a line in front of Moon, who stood protectively in front of McCoy. The three named for planets returned the youma's advance and both sides silently picking their opponent. Following her comrades' example, Moon took a step forward, but Jupiter turned partially towards her and held up a hand to stop her.
"Moon, guard McCoy," Jupiter said over her shoulder. "There are eight of them, remember?"
Moon paused, and then reluctantly stepped back into position guarding the reverend. Jupiter nodded and turned back to the youma in front of her. Moon planted herself in place, tightly gripping her sword, both keeping an eye as her friends and enemies squared off and spread out to give themselves plenty of room to fight. Her gaze alternated between that and the surrounding area. She heard McCoy cry out in alarm and whirled around, blades raised high. Standing right behind them was Mask with Orion perched on his shoulder. She let out a relieved whoosh of air before regarding them angrily.
"Don't do that!" she shouted.
McCoy backed away from them to Moon's side.
"More friends?" he asked, uncertainly.
"Yep," Moon replied.
"They're coming," Mask said.
In the distant, they heard a piercing cry that sent another chill down McCoy's back. They looked over at the town and saw a large bat-like creature take to the skies over town and head right towards them.
"God help us," McCoy uttered.
Grape and Mercury walked a complete circle around each other. Already, Mercury had pulled a considerable amount of liquid from the air. Her harp played and repeated in short intervals while she pricked the center two strings. "Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da. Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da". Water formed into ice hovered in four spherical shields all around her while ice spears and ice balls hovered overhead. She was already wearing the visor that attached to her computer. It was scanning her opponent and processing the information at that very moment.
Jupiter stood across from Housenka. Electricity danced all over her form as she slowly walked towards the plant-based youma.
Mars sidestepped away from Suzunan, and the youma swiftly followed after. Out of the corner of her eye, Mars had spotted a tall rock from which made her vantage point. While already having about five arrows now notched, others clung to her forearms, ready to be loading and fired. Mars crouched, and Suzunan stiffed, ready to pounce. Mars leapt into the air towards the rock, and the youma followed sprang after her, keeping up the pace. In about three bounds that covered roughly twenty feet each, Mars landed on the summit of the tall, narrow rock and faced her opponent.
Kyurene's red wings flapped, taking her higher and higher over the scene of the fight starting out in the field. She noted the Flora sisters squaring against a Warrior, each, and then turned to a fourth Warrior guarding the preacher man along with a masked man and a bird. Kyurene's body was covered with a deep shape of red fur along her sides, arms, legs, back, the back of her wings, neck, and the upper half of her face from the top lip up. A much lighter shape of red fur covered her chest, stomach, loins, and the lower half of her face from the lower lip down. Her body was also very human like the Flora sisters, but her bare hands and feet both had long, sharp claws for cutting during swoop attacks. She had razor sharp fangs and her eyes were yellow with slitted pupils, a lot like a cat's or snake's. She had large bat-like ears that allowed her to hear from far distances. From her spot far above the field, she could see everything that was happening and said.
Kyurene's lips turned up into a snarl barring her fangs. Everything was going according to plan. The Flora sisters had the others Warriors distracted, leaving just one guarding the preacher man, plus the additional aid of Phantom Mask and Orion, whom Aqua had said might show up to provide back up. She swooped down, readying her first attack. Orion took to the sky off of Mask's shoulder and he and the fourth Warrior got between Kyurene and her prey.
The people of Wyvern Hill screamed and ran for their lives as these monstrous beasts rampaged through their home. Aqua launched herself into the road from the sidewalk, shoulders first. She slammed into the side of a semi, upturning it into the side of a building. The truck crashed through and the entire building's front caved in. Bricks, wood, and concrete flew everywhere and people scattered all around, attempting to flee the horrific carnage unleashed upon them. Parents threw themselves over their children and took the brunt of the debris. Cars suddenly slammed on the breaks and spun out of control in wake of the hail.
Aqua casually walked in the middle of the road admiring the damage she caused.
"Pathetic commoners. It's about time someone shook up their little world," she muttered.
She paused as policemen rounded the corner, bats at the ready. She smirked at the sight of them as they headed straight toward her.
"Oi, you! Starts up where we can see them!" the first shouted at her.
Aqua just shrugged off-handedly and raised her arms. The police closed in on her cautiously. Then one of them looked past her and his eyes widened in horror. Behind Aqua, she could hear what sounded like a rushing tidal wave coming in. She didn't need to turn around to get confirmation of who that was. The four policemen cried and started to run for it.
"Derella," Aqua said, identifying the liquid-type youma.
Derella ran over the ground as a wave of water-like liquid, but with her coloring being solid blue with no hint of transparency, there was no mistaking her for it. The blue colored youma's usually humanoid body had reformed itself into a slimy wave. Only her upper torso still in her 'regular' form at the head of the wave as she came blasting out of the alley. She washed over man, woman, and vehicle, taking them along for the ride. She parted around Aqua, leaving only her unharmed as she wreaked havoc on everything else populating the street.
The wave receded and Derella reformed into her default appearance as a blue liquid-woman next to Aqua. She was devoid of any specific features other than her human female shape.
"Nicely done," Aqua congratulated her.
"Why thank you, you're too kind," Derella reminded, her voice coming through a series of gargles as though she was speaking underwater.
Aqua and Derella looked around them as six figures came out from the shadows all around them. They were all armed. Some with what looked up custom made guns, and others with swords and other such antiquated weaponry.
"Keepers," Aqua grinned viciously
"The Husky Unit from the looks of them," Derella added in.
Flau hovered over fast emptying city street. She blasted the ground with energy attacks she shot from her mouth near the people of Wyvern Hill.
"Yes! Run, run, all you like! You can't escape me! I'm Flau of the Great Eastern Hemisphere!" she shouted, cackling.
Iguara slivered along the ground. Her serpentine lower half propelled her across the ground like a snake, and her human-like upper half leaned forward into her charge. Her arms were held behind her back as she crossed the pavement towards the retreating, and screaming crowd of people. Her blue scales reflected the sun's light. Her yellow, pupil-less eyes were narrowed to little slits, glaring at her intended victims. Her human-like mouth opened, and opened wider still. She unhinged her jaw revealing her serpent fangs, dripping with poison. She raised her arms and unfurled the claws on each of her fingers.
Then, seven persons ran out into the middle of the street, between the two youma and civilians.
"You will not pass. We're your opponents!" Rogers declared.
Mercury saw Grape's stats register on the screen.
"SCANNING COMPLETE. IDENTIFIED: GRAPE. SPECIES: PLANT-TYPE YOUMA. CAPABILITIES INCLUDE: TUNNELING THROUGH THE DIRT AT HIGH SPEEDS AND ABILITY TO ENTER AND EXIT THE GROUND QUICKLY. HER BODY POSSESSES HIGH LEVELS OF MAGIC. SHE IS CAPABLE OFF MANIPULATING THE ENERGY WITHIN HER TO DO THE FOLLOWING: SHE CAN PRODUCE PLANT SEEDS FROM HER BODY AND DROP THEM ONTO THE SOIL. SHE THEN INDUCES INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND GROWS ANY PLANT OF HER SELECTION AND WILL THEN TAKE CONTROL OF IT. SHE IS ABLE TO MANIPULATE THE FIBERS WITHIN TO MAKE IT MOVE BOTH FOR DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE PURPOSES. RECOMMENDED STRATEGY: STAND ON A THICK SURFACE SHE IS UNABLE TO TUNNEL UNDER AND CONCENTRATE ON DEFENSE. WINDOWS TO ATTACK WILL BE BRIEF AND FEW. BE PREPARED AND QUICK WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF."
Mercury dug her feet into the ground underneath of her. Her mind raced to come up with a strategy to combat the opponent before her.
"What'll I do? Do I attack first? No. That'd just make her go under and probably come right up under me. She could drag me under and just leave me to suffocate. So what should I do? Well… Moon likes to hang back and see what their first move is."
Mercury's eyes narrowed and her jaw turned down in a firm frown.
"Alright, here comes…" she thought.
"Come at me, yo!" Mercury shouted in as brave a voice she could muster. Of course, it actually came out awkward and shaky.
Grape put her hands on her hips, swayed one out to the side and raised a brow as if to say, "really? Really?"
"Okay, Ima comin' at you, yo," Grape said dryly, mimicking Mercury's bad attempt at slang.
Mercury 'humphed' and pouted in return. Grape suddenly bent forward and shook herself off like a dog. Small black dots fell off her. Mercury knew immediately what she was doing. Her visor honed in on the tiny objects and identified each of them: tree seeds. They each heard a loud explosion not far off, but they were not distracted and did not take their eyes off each other.
Grape looked toward her and grinned as if to say 'here I come'. Mercury's eyes narrowed determinedly as the root of a plan finally began to grow. With a prick of the middle two springs of her harp, the ice spears and balls were sent careening through the air towards Grape.
There was a slight cracking noise and then a loud rumble. Then tendrils of wood and bark exploded out of the ground around Grape. The instantly growing trees grew as a wall in front of her, protecting her from the oncoming barrage of pointed and blunt objects. One of the corners of Mercury's lips pulled upwards slightly. Behind Grape, green and lush grass turned yellow, dry, and dead as the water was rapidly siphoned from them in the blink of an eye. It amassed together as a large wave, rushing toward her all the way. Grape heard the rumbling but only got herself turned around in time to see the rushing wave overtake her before she could even cry out!
Grape was slammed against the trunk of one of her trees by Mercury's attack while her barrier absorbed the Warrior's decoy assault. Grape slid down the side of the tree to the ground in a daze. Using her enemy's momentary state of being stunned to her advantage, Mercury strummed all the strings, starting out and drawing inwards. All the ice projectiles reverted to their liquid form and hovered as orbs of water for a split second.
Grape groaned and started to pick herself up off the ground when she heard more rushing waters overhead. She looked up to see Mercury standing on a round, flat platform of ice suspended high overhead by a gusher of water pushing upwards. The waters holding Mercury and her perch up would then fall back and be gathered at the base where they could cycle through again keeping her aloft.
Then Mercury spoke a single word:
"Mist."
The entire area around Grape was instantly covered in a fog so thick that the youma could not see her own hands in front of her.
"Underground! I have to get underground!" Grape realized.
She turned over onto her hands and knees and plunged her hands into the earth under her. But before she could dive in like would do with water, something hard and cold smacked into her from the side! Grape opened her mouth to scream to agony as she thrown to the side, but only a low, guttural moan came out. She crashed onto the ground and bounced off it before landing again and rolling several times, but Mercury did not let her come to rest. She blasted with an intense current of water and sent tumbling and rolling over the ground, and Mercury blasted again, and again, and again. Grape struggled and strained to grab hold of something to get her footing, but she was tossed around too violently for her to be able to get her bearings. Her world spun around her and she didn't know where which direction she was being propelled in.
"Grape!" Housenka cried, turning from Jupiter to her sister.
She took one step after them, but an electric shock impacted the ground right in front of her back sent her sliding back. She glared at Jupiter hatefully.
"Pay attention! You have to worry about me, first!" Jupiter shouted.
Grape slid and rolled over the grassy earth again before coming to rest. By now, she was so dizzy and discombobulated that she couldn't even register that that last impact had landed her right next to the cliff's edge. Only about a second, maybe two, passed before one finishing attack sent her over the side. It took a few seconds of falling before Grape realized she was witnessing the face of the cliff pass her by and she screamed as realization set in. There was no ground to fall on this time. She looked below her and saw the beach far below, but it was fast becoming not so far. Mercury moved herself to the edge to make sure she fell to her death, but when she peered over the edge, she didn't see Grape at all.
Mercury's side eyes quickly went left and right, trying to spot where the youma might have gone, but she didn't see her…
"Wait! What's that?" Mercury wondered.
She tapped the side of her visor again and the view zoomed in towards a bit of dust she saw kicked off the cliff face. It looked like dirt had fallen off of the side of the cliff at first, but she realized that it was hole! Grape had somehow gotten a hold on the side of the cliff shortly before impact and went underground, but how? Mercury's eye trailed higher up the cliff. Vines. Freshly protruded vines were all along the side of the cliff. Many had been ripped out and were tangled with their kin along the side, but it looked like, altogether, they had done their job in slowing Grape's descent down the side.
Mercury turned to the ground underneath.
"No! I have to find her! I can't lose track of that woma-!"
But that notion was interrupted when something burst out of the ground right under her water funnel. It shot up into the stream and passed through it with like a bullet and crashed into her ice platform. It broke through and then pounded into her from underneath! Mercury let out a combination of a pained cry and an "oof!" as all the weight of her attacker bashed right into her lower abdomen and sent her bounced her off of it.
Mercury clattered onto the ground painfully. Her stomach and head ached, making her squeeze her eyes shut. Her harp landed a distance away. The water from her spout washed over her and carried her away and she was pelted with hunks of her shattered ice stand. Her opened her eyes, but squinted. She could see a form standing not far away. Mercury clenched her fists, steeling herself to move, no matter how painful. She turned herself over onto her right side and reached skyward with her left hand, calling her harp to her.
The instrument lifted off the ground and flew to its mistress, but just as it reached her, Grape lunged forward and with a swift forward kick, pelted it away before it could return to Mercury's hand. Then she jumped down into a low, spread-legged stance with her left fist pulled back just above her waist. Her upper body snapped downwards and she rolled her punch off her body upwards, pounded the girl's face in her right jaw, sending her rolling away onto her back, left side, and finally, her stomach.
Without wasting any time, Grape pounced and jumped over to the girl with her arm raised high. The purple skin turned brown as she morphed the limp into a tree branch. The forearm reshaped itself into a wooden blade and she thrust it straight downwards at Mercury. The girl suddenly rolled toward her and the blade stuck into the ground. Mercury rolled again, right into Grape's legs, catching the youma off guard. With her footing completely taken away, Grape cried out as she fell forward and tumbled face first into the grass. She heaved herself up into a sitting position and turned to see a blue boot coming her way just before there was a lood Crack and her world became as pain and bright, sparkling stars.
Mercury stumbled back a few paces before calling for her harp again. Shakily she caught it, and then faced Grape again at the same time the youma picked herself up again and snarled back at her. They both got into an attack stance. It was time to end this.
All other happenings vanished and the world narrowed around Jupiter and Housenka. The rumbling of trees jutting from the ground as Grape and Mercury began their own dual barely registered as the two slowly approached each other. Jupiter's armor sparked and electricity glowed as it shot between her gauntlets, greaves, and the antenna on her mask. Housenka held up her hands, crossing them over herself. Between each finger was a red seed.
Then, Jupiter charged forward leaning her whole body forward into it. Both elbows as drawn back as they would and her fists held tightly against her sides with her knuckles facing downwards. Housenka unfurled her arms and threw the red seeds straight forward at Jupiter. The Warrior saw them coming right at her and both fists shot forward and she threw herself into a broad, low forward stance with most of her weight put on her right leg, which had the knee bent, keeping her low to the ground. Her left leg was outstretched behind her. She turned over her hands so the knuckles faced up halfway through the process of rolling her double-fist punch off her body.
The lightning shot out of both fists when the red seeds were mere feet from her, and upon contact with the discharge, they exploded. Jupiter was overtaken by the combustion and sent flying back smashing into the ground hard enough that she left imprint instead of bouncing off it.
Jupiter clenched her teeth as her entire body shook with pain. Aside from her armor being heated and smoking, her injuries had been agitated again. She looked skyward and saw Houseka jumping directly over her with a vicious smile. She had more of those red seeds readied to throw down at her. Jupiter instinctively grabbed the soil tightly in her hands as she watched in horror at what was about to happen.
"I expected more!" Housenka shouted as she unleashed another round of the explosives at on the Warrior.
The ground under Jupiter opened up and swallowed her before closing again! Housenka gasped in shock and nearly forgot to correct her descent to land on her feet as her exploding seeds harmlessly sent dirt and grass flying all over. Housenka looked all around, but it wasn't necessary. Jupiter's exit was hardly subtle. Another tear opened up and out jumped the green clad Warrior, landing on a foot and a knee.
"I mimicked that little trick you three pulled when you made your entrance. How did I do?" Jupiter asked in mock politeness.
Housenka shrugged.
"Not bad," she admitted.
Suddenly, Grape's screams rang out through the air. Housenka looked behind her, towards the cliffs and saw that the blue one was using a constant barrage of water blasts, knocking her sister ever closer to the edge.
"Grape!" Housenka cried, turning from Jupiter to her sister.
She took one step after them, but an electric shock impacted the ground right in front of her back sent her sliding back. She glared at Jupiter hatefully, who had stood up and was now dusting herself off.
"Pay attention! You have to worry about me, first!" Jupiter shouted.
Housenka did not respond verbally. She turned to face Jupiter fully again without any further display of emotion. Then she dropped down onto one knee and leaned forward with her hands on the ground. She arched her back forward as much as she could. Jupiter tensed, wondering what kind of attack she was preparing. She was reluctant to throw anything at her, given how the last time she just threw something at her, it literally just exploded in her face. Spiny, green protrusions that looked like thorns poked through the tough fabric covering Housenka's back. Jupiter knew what was coming, and reacted accordingly. She went into a full side-run. Housenka grunted, tensed her back muscles, and fired the thorns at the Warrior.
Jupiter dug her feet, into the ground, slid to a stop, and pushed off backwards throwing herself into a backwards run. She reached one hand down and made a grabbing motion with her hand. Then she heaved it upwards. In junction with her motion, a rectangular section of ground lifted up between her and the projectiles some yards away from her. They exploded on impact, but the dirt absorbed the full impact of the blast for Jupiter.
"Just as I thought," Jupiter thought.
Housenka suddenly burst through the dust at her. Her body was leaned forward into the leap fully and she had more thorns and red seeds ready to fire! Jupiter had been ready for this and swiped one hand across in front the very same minute Housenka set her arsenal loose on her. Housenka gasped and froze in place in sheer panic. The world seemed to slow down as the red seeds and thorns, which were not half a foot from her, connected with Jupiter's lightning and the whole world turned to white.
Jupiter crouched down low while holding her armored hands and forearms over her head as Housenka was enveloped in her own explosives. After the blast had come and gone, she slowly lowered them and raised her eyes, peering into the smoldering scene before her. Housenka heaved and groaned in a blacked, bleeding pile on the ground. She let out several low, moaning cries out of so much pain, she didn't know how to react to it. She lay on her stomach with her face pointing upwards relative to her position, yet she found herself staring up at her own legs lying on the ground some distance away from the rest of her.
Jupiter stood up and walked over to her. She raised a single, electrified fist over her head. Housenka turned her head to look up at her as she approached from the right through unclear eyes.
"I will ease your passing," Jupiter said to her in a calm, but not cold, voice.
Housenka gnashed her teeth in return. With her remaining arm, which was her left, she reached into the top of her burned and shredded leotard and wrapped her hands around the vial containing her dark seed. She popped the cork off and turned her head over toward it.
Jupiter paused.
"Hey, what are you-?"
Housenka put the vial to her lips and downed both the liquid and the seed inside. Jupiter dashed forward with both fists and a foot raised! She brought them all down onto the fallen youma's back with all her might! What was left of the youma's body twitched once, and then was limp. Jupiter paused again, and then stepped back off of the youma and backed away cautiously. Housenka's still form was in the middle of her line of sight the entire time.
"Did I get her in time?" Jupiter asked herself.
She stood rigidly in place staring at the shredded remains of the youma for she didn't know how long. Then, when she dared, she turned toward Mercury and Grape and spotted them still at it. She took a step to turn around. Before she could take another, Jupiter heard what sounded like a mix of bone cracking and something moist churning. She turned her head and saw that body of Housenka pulsing and twitching. The torso bulged as cancer-like growths started to cover it. Jupiter's mouth fell before she was forced to look away in revulsion.
Bracing herself, Jupiter faced the mutating creature in time just in time to see two, large insect like arms bust forth, straight up from Housenka's shoulders, forcing the remaining one of Housenka's original arms to fall off. The arms were positioned so that they were reaching straight up at their default position, but like a scorpion's tail, they could lash forward quickly. Triple-joined legs akin to a bird's grew to replace the ones she had lost. Using its new arms, the beast pushed itself up off the ground and with Housenka's face it looked at Jupiter with glowing red eyes.
"What the hell?" Jupiter asked.
The once-youma just growled. Nothing in its new demeanor or eyes displayed any remaining sapient brainpower. It stood as it continued to mutate. With another crack, Housenka's neck reformed itself so that the top of her head was almost level with her shoulders. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but by the time of the final transformations, Jupiter was recollected her wits. She clenched both fists tightly.
"So you gave up your mind just for another crack at me? Alright, then, since this fight meant so much to you, I'll not disappoint," Jupiter growled.
Mars landed on the summit of the tall, narrow rock. The landing forced her down into one knee, but she still managed to twist herself around to face her opponent. Suzunan was still charging, which came as no surprise. The youma reached into her utility belt and pulled out a pair of basic military-grade fighting knives. She ran low to the ground with both arms outstretched behind her. Mars swiped her arm across in front of her, open-palmed, spewing forth a stream of fire. It spilled onto the ground, creating a wall of flame between her and the youma. Then she formed an arrow in her fist and notched it. Mars paused, then. Suzunan wasn't slowing down.
To her surprise, the Plant-Type Youma ran right through the flames and came out the other side, not that much worse for wear. Then Suzunan ran up the steep slope of the rock pillar towards Mars using her momentum and powerful legs to get her there. The Warrior took aim and fired on her opponent, but she pushed off the side of the rock with her legs and launched herself into a back-flip over the arrow, high into the air. In mid-flight, Suzunan threw back knives at her, which Mars batted away with two swings of her bow.
Suzunan landed on the ground in front of Mars's tall perch in a crouching position on all fours. Then she opened her mouth as wide as it would go and let out what sounded like a faint screeching. Mars drew back another arrow, but then, she heard something that made her pause. She looked down at the rock she was standing on as low rumbles and cracking sounded, and then grew louder. The rock split apart in several places and fell to pieces underneath her. Mars cried out as her pillar crumbled to the ground and she followed after. Rocks slid and fell all around her as the whole world seemed to spiral out of control, and then finally as the descend stopped, Mars found herself half buried under the heavy bits of stone. Mars lied frozen in place, stunned by the sudden tumble.
With her opponent buried from the waist down in rock, Suzunan lunged forward again. She sucked in a deep breath and then blew out of a gust of gray fog. Mars blinked off the shock and shook her head to try to clear it. When she looked up, she was surrounded in a mist. Without thinking, she went right into action. Her armored skirt and boots and had protected her legs from the brunt of the rocks that were lying on top of them, so distracting discomfort was kept to a minimum and she was suffered only a few minor pains, and somehow, she had managed to keep hold of her bow.
No sooner had she brought the notched arrow up did something spring out of the fog, and it was coming fast. With no time to aim, Mars let go her control of the arrow and just fired, spraying the flames all around her. Suzunan recoiled from the intense flash, but it was only a momentary pause. She flipped the knife over in her hand and plunged it down, towards Mars's throat. Mars brought her bow up and blocked the blow like one would do with a pole weapon, but Suzunan leaned forward, putting her weight into the thrust. She pressed her forearms against the bow blocking her path down to the girl's jugular. Mars strained and grunted against her, but from her vantage point could not fend off Suzunan's strength and her arms buckled under the youma's persistence.
"Only…one…chance…" Mars's mind registered under the strain.
She gripped the bow tightly in her hands. From end to end, it lit up and caught fire. Suzunan cried out and jumped, wringing her burnt wrists. With her enemy occupied, even for just a few seconds, Mars grabbed one of the rocks holding her down and started to push on it to get it off her. It was a long hunk of stone, laying over almost the entirety of one of her legs. It she was going to get it off, it was going to take all of her strength.
So Mars gripped the underside of the rock to the side that was laying over her and started pushing it to the side. It gave away a little bit and with another push, it gave some more. Suzunan heard the sound and looked over at Mars again.
"Oh, no, you don't!" she yelled and tossed the knife up and caught the tip between her fingers.
Mars raised her opened hand again just as Suzunan tried to throw and shot out another column of flame at her. Suzunan had thrown the knife and dodged to the side. The thrown flame knocked the knife off course. Mars trailed her arm around, following Suzunan's motions and keeping her on the run. Suzunan dived and disappeared into the long grass and Mars ceased her fire, not wanting to put her allies in any more danger of spreading fire than possible.
With Suzunan chased away for the moment, Mars grabbed hold of the rock again and tried pushing it once more. It was heavy and her progress was slow. After she'd gained a few inches, she tried wiggled her leg free of it. A moment later, Suzunan stood up from the grass on the other side, where Mars could not so readily see her. She gritted her teeth, as even immobilized, the Celestial Warrior was proving to be a difficult opponent to kill.
She looked from the girl down to the base of the pile of shattered stone, getting an idea.
"She'll just fend me off with more fire if I get too close, but if I bury her…" she thought.
Suzunan leaned forward and opened her mouth. She unleashed another high frequency shriek that pounded the rocks at the base of the pile. Mars's head snapped upwards relative to her position just in time to see what the youma was up to. She heard the rocks underneath shatter and knew what was coming before another round rumbles started.
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" she thought frantically as she started to slide downwards.
She looked down at her legs. The larger rocks was been kicked off the sudden motion, but she'd only have mere seconds to escape before she was unable to get solid footing anymore. With a strong push, she turned herself over onto her hands and braced her feet against the stones underneath. It was right then that her descent picked up. Just before the pair of larger stones her body rested on shifted too much, she pressed hard against them with her legs and pushed off. Then just as she launched herself into the air, the area where she had just been was buried. Mars tumbled through the air, having leapt before being able to take a look at where she was going.
Suzunan dived to the side and then rolled away as the Warrior launched herself right at her off the rock pile.
"Damn! I didn't expect her to be able to act quickly enough to free herself!" the youma thought, agitatedly.
Suzunan shot up out of her roll. She picked something out of her utility belt and pulled a tiny white piece of metal out of it. It clicked as the fuse started. The small, green object would be able to blow in a few seconds, and Suzunan tossed it toward the red Warrior. A fiery dart shot up from where Mars was and collided with the grenade, causing it to explode in mid-flight. Suzunan shielded her face as the shrapnel flew everywhere. When she dared lower her arms, Mars had stood up and had notched a whopping five arrows, all of which were pointed right at her.
"Just try to dodge this," Mars said.
"And this," Suzunan heard from behind.
When she turned, she was gazing right into one of Orion's explosive rounds.
Kyurene circled overhead, but her rounds were becoming smaller and they could tell she was about to swoop in. Moon turned her head slightly toward Mask, but did not take her eyes off of the coming bat-woman.
"Try to clip her wings as soon as you can," Moon said to Mask. "When we fought the Beldam back in Dreamland, bearing her to the ground was the first real damage we managed to get in the whole fight!"
Mask looked at her, regarding her without expression for a moment.
"Yeah, but then she collapsed her Gingerbread house and sent you down into a bone catacombs," Mask replied.
"But, she was a reality warper and master of illusions and trickery. I doubt this bat is anything of the sort," Moon replied.
Moon reached back and pressed her hand against McCoy's stomach.
"Step back. We're going to need a lot of room to fight. You don't want to get nicked by a stray slice," she said.
McCoy nodded wordlessly and took a few big steps back. He glanced behind him, but anywhere he looked, he just saw more violence. A shriek from overhead turned his attention to the skies again. He flinched and ducked down low. The bat creature had begun its attack.
Moon and Mask shifted into wider stances, lower to the ground that would allow them to move quickly. Moon held her sword right in front, gripping the hilt in both hands. It was level with the blades pointing to the sides. Mask held his blade up over his body protectively. They were in defensive positions. They had no frame of reference concerning this creature. They were reluctant to just attack it until they knew what to expect of it. However, one thing for certain, anything that creature would deal out was coming straight for them, and only them. They gave a slight glance back at the reverend to make sure he was neither too near nor far. They weren't worried about the bat-woman attacking him, after all, she needed him alive. They just needed to keep her from ensuring him in her clawed talon-like feet.
They each formulated a strategy in their minds as the creature dived, coming ever closer by the second. Then, as it was closing in just mere yard away, they both tensed up. Moon and Mask needn't look to each other for confirmation. They knew what to do and what the other would do, and they readied themselves to do it. Then, the beast broke off the attack at the last moment, swooped upwards, righting itself in the air. Both its opponent looked at in confusion as its ascent slowed for just a second. Then, from the end of each fingertip, toe, grew a long white claw. More spine-like objects appeared from around the corners of her wingspan and pointed at the pair's way.
"She means to fire on us!" Moon realized.
She raised her blades, building up the energy for an attack in the process, but Kyurene had already taken aim. Each claw and spine she had grown was propelled from their socket right at the pair. Moon lunged forward in front of Mask and McCoy and held up the blades in front. She began spinning them around in front while discharging energy, creating a protective umbrella. The pointed-projectiles bounced off the shielding making clanging sounds as they did.
Then Moon dropped down low, allowing Mask to swing his blade directly over her, unleashing his own arch of energy toward Kyurene. A strange aura surrounded the bat-beast and a sudden gust of wind elevated her upwards out of the attack's path. Mask scowled, pulling his lips back revealing his clenched teeth as he watched, recognizing the technique used.
"Wind magic," he said, angrily.
He looked down at Moon, who stared up at him over her shoulder.
"This beast of the skies can manipulate the element, Air, in her favor. Unlike most things with wings, she will be able to fly anywhere she pleases at any speed and even use it to attack. We need to be very careful, and remember the damage the satyr did on the day Entomon was unleashed," he said.
She nodded, giving him an "Uh-huh", before turning to look back at their enemy. Thankfully, the bright red coloring of Kyurene made finding her again easy, but seeing and landing a hit were proving to remain very different things. Moon stood up again.
"Any ideas?" she asked, without turning away from the bat-beast.
"Maybe…" Mask replied, rubbing his chin with his index, middle, and ring fingers.
As Kyurene soared higher, she looked down on the situation below.
"Those two will guard that man to their last breaths, but if I take them on two-against-one, it will be to my last breath," she thought.
She watched as they moved with her as she glided around, always keeping themselves between her and the preacher man. She just needed one opening to get at him. She just needed to get past those two for a minute. She held no delusion of being able to kill the legendary Celestial Warrior of the Moon. Then, with a tactic decided upon, Kyurene arched herself forward, making a downward U-turn toward them.
"Here she comes," Masked muttered.
"If she can control the wind, she's probably going to try to blast us out of the way and grab Leonard without bothering with us," Moon said, calculatingly.
Mask just gave an agreeing nod.
"Anything we can do?" Moon asked, looking at him anxiously.
If they managed to stay rooted to the ground, it would be just about all they could do a few seconds.
"Maybe, but it'll be all on you," Mask replied.
"Me?" she blanched.
"Yes," he turned to her. "You can do it. Don't worry. You just worry about keeping us grounded. I'll see about cutting that thing's wings."
"Why don't you? You seem to know about this magic stuff!" Moon said, uneasily.
"Yeah, but…" he paused. "I also lack the raw power of a Celestial Warrior."
Kyurene careened downwards. Her chest and stomach expanded just a bit too much as she sucked in a long breath. She observed Warrior Moon stepped forward while The Phantom Mask stepped back, closer to the preacher man.
"No matter," she thought, even as Moon pointing one of her blades right at her.
She released the air she had stored up, turning it into a funnel of concentrated air bearing down right at them. As she did, Moon summoned her energy. Raw energy swirled in the blade pointing away from Kyurene, and then surged through the entire length of the sword and out the other end. It was directed upwards, in a similar spinning motion as the forming twister coming their way.
The funnels and air of energy pounded against each other, and for a second, it looked like Moon would keep the storm held off, but Kyurene's wind started to push past. Moon groaned as she was starting to get pushed back.
"I can't keep this up for very long," she called to Mask in strained voice.
Mask held his sword levelly in front of him. The flat of the blade was facing up. His right hand came to rest on the base of the blade, and then he ran it across the surface to the pointed end. The sword began glowing with an intense light where he had touched it. Then he walked over to Moon until he was right behind her at an angle.
"Narrow and intensify your funnel of energy," Mask commanded.
"But…" Moon argued, voice fraught with exhaustion. "It won't…hold off the…wind…for very long…like that."
"It won't have to," Mask replied.
"…Alright," she said compliantly.
She did as she was told. The funnel she was casting narrowed to the point where it almost went inside the storm Kyurene was blasting their way, and the its glow magnified by several times. Then Mask held his sword up and drew it back, preparing to through it. His arm jerked forward and the sword was sent into Moon's spiraling energy. The sword shot through the air like a bullet. It shot through Moon's funnel and with that, it had enough leverage to enter into Kyurene's own, fly up it, and toward her.
The bat-woman saw a streak of white zooming toward her.
"What…?"
The sword slowed from the force of the wind blowing against it, but it got close enough to complete its purpose. As soon as it was in range, all the energy Phantom Mask had poured into it exploded out from within and in every direction around it. Kyurene cried out in surprise as her vision was clouded over in its brightness. She hissed in pain as the first barbs of the bolts of energy pierced her hide and she broke off the spell. The wind started dying around almost immediately as the bat youma was forced to retreat before her wings got fried by the attack.
Moon stopped her own flow, and built the energy back up within the sword. She drew it back in preparation to throw now that Kyurene was trying to right herself in the air.
"MOON BLADE BOOMERANG!"
Kyurene, with her concentration impeded, could only try to fly out of its path as best she could. She dived downward to the side. Yes, it would take her closer to the ground, but she would avoid the worse of Moon's finisher. And she did, the blade just cut through the outer edge of her right wing's membrane, but the energy extruding from it burning them all over. Kyurene cried out as she went to spin controllably as she tumbled downwards.
The blade returned to Moon's hand and the bat-woman crashed into the earth several yards away. She picked herself up painfully and looked around with dazed eyes. Finally, she locked looks with two approaching persons. Moon and Mask were coming for her. Kyurene stood and brushed herself off. She blew air towards them that became a rushing column of it. Both her opponents dodged to the side and it tore up the ground where they just were.
Now they closed in from two different points. Kyurene dared a glance down at her injured wing and then back at them.
"Tch," she snarled.
Then a tiny smirk crossed her face. Her wing had been injured, but she still had a few cards to play. She still had a chance.
"Come closer," she said under her breath.
In the distance, the sounds of the battles in the village could be heard raging.
A/N: I know I promised Gargouille in this chapter, but it's been long enough that you guys deserve to have the wait ended. He comes out next chapter, promise.
Flau, Iguara, Kyurene, Derella, Grape, Housenka, Suzunan, and Yasha are all canon villains from The Dark Kingdom arc. They're youma that belonged Jadeite and Zoicite. Flau, Iguara, Kyurene, and Derella were the former's and the trio of plant-based youma were all the latter's from the episode when Nephrite is killed. Yasha also belonged to Zoicite.