Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
…
Asteroibotchi started things off by raising his claws into the air, causing the skies to darken and meteors to begin raining down upon the city. The crowd that had gathered to support and/or protest the proceeding suddenly realized that getting this close to a battle between superpowered ninjas and monsters might not be the brightest idea, panicked, and started trying to flee.
"And it looks like Asteroibotchi is starting things off with a bang!" Bae reported, buzzing into view. "Meteors are touching down all over the area, meaning the Youkalien is the first to score!"
Indeed, the scoreboard for the Youkaliens was already racking in the points as more and more meteors impacted the ground, getting significant bumps whenever they struck an occupied building or landed close enough to any running civilians to teleport them away.
"The Diningers are going to have to work fast if they hope to catch up and win this round!" Bae continued.
"Crud, he's already got a pretty sizable lead," an alarmed Kenji noted.
"It's a good thing we planned for something like this," Akira reminded him. "Sora, take to the skies and try to keep as many of those meteors from hitting the ground as you can. Kenji, help get the civilians to safety. Mozu, Tetsu, the three of us are going to rush Asteroibotchi. If we can take him out quickly enough, we should be able to end this round before he scores enough points that we won't be able to close the gap."
"I'm on it," Sora said, spreading his arms and gathering his dinpo around him. Yellow winds swirled around him and launched him into the air, twirling and pirouetting ever skyward, until he rose high above the buildings…
And nearly crashed into a meteor. "That would've been humiliating if I hit it," he muttered, embarrassed as he barely dodged the falling object, managing to lash out with his blade as he passed and slicing it in half, the two fragments exploding.
As he gazed around him, taking in the less than scenic Vista – this hadn't been the prettiest district of Tokyo even before falling stars started collapsing buildings and setting off fires and explosions – he briefly lamented that, if the situation were less tense, he'd be able to enjoy the fact that he was finally flying under his own power, as he'd always dreamed. "Okay," he muttered, glancing up and seeing dozens more meteors falling from the sky. "A single sword isn't going to cut it here, so…"
He held his sword out before him and tapped the coin with his thumb. "Dinintana Blade Transformation Technique: Ptera Arrow!"
DININ ARMAMENT! PTERA ARROW!
Yellow dinpo surged up the blade, and in a flash of light it transformed into a weapon which totally wasn't a recolor of the Kiraful Go Arrow done up to resemble a yellow pterodactyl rather than a Crystal Phoenix. Sighting along the length of the weapon, he pulled back the "arrow" and released it, shooting a yellow energy arrow which flew through the air and pierced one of the meteors, destroying it.
"Yes," he murmured, drawing back the "arrow" to "reload," aiming for his next target. "This should do…"
"And it looks like the Diningers are finally in the game!" Bae cheered as Sora started firing arrow after arrow into the meteor storm, each destroyed projectile causing the total on the "Shinobiryu" screen to rise. "But will they be able to catch up in time? And my, what's this? It looks like those civilians who came out to show their support and/or protest the proceedings are in trouble!"
Indeed, back on the ground, the terrified mob that had thought it was a good idea to gather in force that day were running in terror, the occasional meteor which Sora missed landing nearby and causing an explosion which rattled the civilians and caused them to scream at best, and teleported them away at worst. They found themselves with a whole new thing to scream about, though, when about a dozen Uchuhage appeared in their path.
"Don't worry, humans!" The Youkaliens shouted encouragingly. "If none of you want to be hit by a meteor, all you have to do is run into our knives and you'll be teleported to safety!"
The mob screamed at this.
"No, really, they're perfectly safe, we set them to teleport," one of the Uchuhage explained, stabbing his friend. "See?"
The stabbed Uchuhage vanished in a flash of light.
For some reason, this caused the mob to scream even louder.
The Uchuhage reappeared in a flash of light. "I told you, give me some warning before you do that!" He snapped at his colleague.
There was a fiery roar, and everyone looked up to see that another meteorite was streaking right towards them. The human started screaming again ("Seriously, could you stop with the screaming, it's really hurting my ears," one of the Uchuhage complained)-
"Dinintana Blade Transformation Technique: Tricera Breaker!"
DININ ARMAMENT! TRICERA BREAKER!
A blue streak erupted from the window of a nearby building and slammed into the meteorite, shattering it as it continued flying through the air, vanishing into another window on the other side of the street.
"What was that-" one of the Uchuhage started, surprised, when suddenly the ground beneath his feet shook and Kenji erupted from below, hitting him with a powerful uppercut that sent him flying.
"These people won't be going anywhere but to safety!" The triceratops ninja proclaimed, brandishing his knuckles, a large blue gauntlet ending in a trio of massive drills resembling triceratops horns over each hand.
"So cool!" One of the civilians cried, awestruck.
"His is the drill that-" someone else started, only for another meteor to slam into a nearby building, causing all of its windows to shatter as the structure collapsed, the upper half of it starting to tilt down towards the helpless people in its shadow.
Kenji shot an Uchuhage a sharp look. "If a building that got hit by a teleport meteor falls on them, will they be crushed or teleported away?"
The Uchuhage in question looked alarmed. "I, um… I don't know. I think they'll be fine?"
Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Not good enough!"
He channeled dinpo into his gauntlets, causing huge blue energy constructs resembling triceratops heads to form over them. He clenched his fists, causing the horn drills to rev. "Triple Drill Break!"
He jumped skyward, slamming his construct-covered gauntlets into the side of the falling building, pieces of rock, glass, and metal flying everywhere as his drills dug deeply into the surface of the structure. The broken building trembled as the drill horns bored into it, and, with a cacophonous crash and a blast of blue energy, shattered, huge chunks of debris flying everywhere, smashing into the street and surrounding buildings, but narrowly avoiding landing on any of the awestruck civilians or the equally awestruck Uchuhages.
"So cool…" One of the Uchuhage whispered, astounded.
"You saved us!" One of the humans cried in relief.
"Dude, you should invest in sunglasses and a cape!" Yelled the same person who had started to utter a certain meme before.
Kenji gave him a confused look. "Why?"
"So you can be like the guy from Gurren Lagann!" The Trigger fan enthused.
"I have no idea what that is," said the bewildered Kenji.
For some reason, this caused most of the crowd to give him shocked and pitying looks.
"And Kenji just gave his team a MASSIVE boost in points, saving dozens of people and even some of his enemies!" Bae gushed as the Diningers scoreboard lit up. "What a guy! He's definitely proving himself worthy of the title of Super Sentai!"
"Kyukogo!" Kenji yelled up at the floating junk. "I thought we were keeping civilian casualties out of this! Something like this had better not happen again, or else-"
"There is no need for you to worry," Kyukogo interjected, her expression soothing. "If they had been in any real danger, my magic would have spirited them away just in time. Still, you did well leaping into action like that. It speaks volumes for your character, and indeed proves you are a more than worthy replacement for that man."
Becalmed somewhat at this, Kenji bowed his head. "Thank you for saying so, Your Divinity."
"You're a really cool guy," one of the Uchuhage exclaimed. "Can I get your autograph?"
Kenji considered this for a moment. "Let these people through unmolested, and you have a deal," he said finally.
The Uchuhages glanced each other for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Sure. It's the least we can do, giving you a scare like that."
The Youkaliens moved out of the way, and the grateful civilians streamed past, heading out of the danger zone.
"And that's even MORE points on the board thanks to Kenji!" Bae cried as the Dininger's total continued to rise. "And now I kind of want his autograph!"
Meanwhile, Akira, Tetsu, and Mozu charged down the street towards Asteroibotchi and a couple of dozen Uchuhage, swords flashing through the air and slicing apart any meteor the rock monster fired their way.
"You're going to have to do a bit better than that if you want to stop us!" Akira quipped, cleaving a meteor in two, the two halves flying past her head, only millimeters away from touching her precious hair.
"We've been training how to deal with projectiles like this all our lives," Mozu bragged, doing an impressive flip through the air as she kicked a meteor hurtling towards her away, smashing it into a nearby building. "And those weren't set to teleport!"
Tetsu probably would have signed something, but he was a little too busy cutting apart a meteor cluster streaking towards him, so allowed his stoic silence to speak for him.
"So I can see," Asteroibotchi observed, mildly impressed. "Very well then! I shall face you myself!"
"You mean you're not going to hide behind your underlings and throw them at us to try and exhaust us while you marshal your strength for the big clash?" Mozu asked, surprised.
"What? Of course not! That would be dishonorable!" Asteroibotchi cried, offended. "It is obvious you're more than a match for them. As their commander, it is only right that I deal with any adversary above their weight class myself! It is my duty as their superior officer!"
"… You guys really aren't anything like past bad guys," an amazed Bae remarked.
"Sir, we must respectfully protest," one of the Uchuhage spoke up. "We are aware that we don't stand a chance against warriors like these Diningers… But that doesn't matter! As foot soldiers, it is our duty to fight any enemy of the Hegemony, no matter their size or strength! That is why we Uchuhage are always on the front lines of any conflict, because our great leader has that much faith in us! Please, allow us to aid you. Our honor as foot soldiers demands it!"
"You guys…" Asteroibotchi murmured, touched.
Akira hesitated, then glanced at Mozu and Tetsu. "Mozu, Tetsu. Would you be okay fighting those guys while I tackle Asteroibotchi?"
Tetsu nodded. Sure thing.
"We'll join up with you when we're done," Mozu promised, brandishing her blade reverse-grip style.
Akira nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, guys. Okay, Asteroibotchi, let's do this!"
The ninjas and Youkaliens charged at each other.
Tetsu swiftly found himself beset by attackers on all sides. He was a big target, and not especially fast, so the smaller, quicker Uchuhages were able to easily dart in and strike at him with their energy blades whenever they saw an opening.
Unfortunately for the foot soldiers, he didn't even seem to notice their blows. Sparks flew whenever the knives stabbed or slashed against his suit, but he simply ignored the damage and struck back with great violence and ferocity, his powerful punches, kicks, and slashes flinging his assailants away with such force they slammed into nearby buildings, parked cars, or even stray meteors that Sora had missed.
This was the way of the Ankylosaurus-style ninjutsu: they might not be fast, but they were strong, and very sturdy, and trained themselves to have bodies as unbreakable as their spirits. Now, Tetsu would be the first to tell you that he had trouble mastering the spiritual aspect of his training, but where it came to his physical endurance, he was virtually unrivaled.
"What are you made of, adamantine?!" An astonished Uchuhage demanded when he stabbed Tetsu in the gut and he didn't even flinch.
No, Tetsu signed as he reached down and lifted the frightened Youkalien by the neck. Something much stronger. The human spirit!
The Uchuhage stared at him blankly. "… I'm sorry, but I don't understand your sign language, I don't think my translator works on it."
Tetsu scowled in irritation under his mask and then hurled the unlucky Uchuhage away.
"Why! Won't! You! Fall! Already!" Snarled another Uchuhage, clinging to Tetsu's back and stabbing him in the back of the neck repeatedly.
Tetsu blinked in surprise at this. He genuinely hadn't noticed the Youkalien was back there and thought there was a kink in his neck. He backhanded the Uchuhage off his back, took a step forwards, and noticed that he felt slightly heavier than usual.
He glanced down and discovered that a dozen Uchuhage were clinging to his ankles, six for each leg. "Just how strong are you?!" One of them demanded. "We've been here for several minutes!"
That was a good question, actually. How strong was he now?
He lifted one foot, causing the Uchuhage clinging to it to yelp as they were lifted off the ground, then slammed it down hard on the street, cratering the pavement, sending massive cracks zigzagging across the ground, some of which tore open into deep fissures and ripped the street and nearby sidewalks away something fierce, shattered all the glass within several meters, and caused a building that had already been damaged due to a meteor strike to collapse upon itself.
Also, all of the Uchuhages nearby were blasted away, but that wasn't much of a surprise.
Huh. Pretty strong, he thought to himself. He raised his blade, glancing at it curiously. Now, how much stronger can I get?
He signed Dinintana Blade Transformation Technique: Ankylo Defender!
DININ ARMAMENT! ANKYLO DEFENDER!
In a flash of green light, his sword transformed into a massive green tower shield slightly taller than he was resembling the back of Ankylosaurus, complete with thick spikes jutting from the front and sides. Tetsu grinned as he slammed it against the ground, causing the streets to tremble and the Uchuhage, who had just started picking themselves up, to stare at him in naked worry. Now this, he thought. Is more like it.
Bae whistled as Tetsu charged towards the frightened Uchuhages, mowing them down with his shield. Some of them tried to strike at him with their blades, only to impact the shield instead, which flashed as it absorbed the kinetic energy from the blows and thrust its spikes outward in retaliation, knocking them back. "Tetsu seems to be quite the powerhouse! Not entirely sure you're supposed to use a shield like that, but hey, if it works, it works! It certainly isn't hurting him in the points," he added, glancing at the Shinobiryu scoreboard, which continued rising.
In contrast to Tetsu, whose fighting style basically boiled down to "flat-out ignore everything your enemy throws at you then hit them as hard as you can," Mozu's technique, like most ninjas of the raptor clan, relied on being faster than your adversary, able to nimbly dodge every attack, slip past their guard, then strike with a single, targeted blow at their weak point to make sure they go down and don't get back up. While Mozu, like the rest of the Diningers, was doing her best to pull her punches so as not to mortally wound the Uchuhage, the boost her transformation had given to her strongest attributes was so great she had to consciously remind herself not to deal any lethal blows.
This is amazing, she thought to herself, leaning backwards to dodge a swipe from an Uchuhage's energy knife, the Youkalien seeming to move as slow as molasses from her perspective. I'm so fast! The only way they could possibly hit me was if I was just standing still!
While the Youkaliens seemed to be moving very slowly from her perspective, from the Uchuhage's perspective, Mozu was moving impossibly fast. She's so fast! The Uchuhage who had tried to swipe her thought in amazement as the pink ninja dodged his blow, moving so quickly she left afterimages. The only way I could possibly hit her is if she was standing still!
As the blade harmlessly passed over her, Mozu sprang back up, swiped her blade through the air half a dozen times, then dashed off. The Youkalien blinked in confusion, then squawked in dismay as his knife shattered, his armor fell off, and his mask split apart. "Nobody look! Nobody look!" He wailed, covering his face.
Mozu rushed through a mob of over a dozen Uchuhage, going back and forth, slashing her blade through the air again and again, leaving a zigzagging trail of pink light in her wake before she finally burst through on the other side, calmly sheathing her sword with her back to her adversaries. After a moment, the Uchuhages were rocked as they felt the effects of all of Mozu's high-speed attacks at once, and with a cry of agony they fell to the ground and were enveloped in an explosion.
"We're okay!" One of them shouted, so she wouldn't think that she'd killed them by accident.
"Thank you for letting me know!" She shouted back.
Several more Uchuhage charged at her, shrieking as they surrounded her and started furiously swinging their knives at her. Mozu drew her sword again and calmly started countering, deflecting, and parrying every blow without looking, even the ones aimed at her back. She even switched hands so she was fighting without her dominant hand, and it only made her blade a fraction of a second slower.
"By the way, are you guys okay with how thoroughly I'm demolishing you?" She asked, feeling a hint of concern. "I mean, you guys talked big about how you were determined to fight us even though you knew you didn't stand a chance, but I'm so utterly dominating you I'm starting to feel a little guilty."
"No, it's all right, we pretty much expected something like this," one of the Uchuhage assured her as his thrust was parried yet again.
"It's the lot in life of a foot soldier to be effortlessly trounced by a superior opponent; we all made peace with it ages ago," another Uchuhage promised as his knife was knocked out of his hand.
"There is no shame in us being beaten by you, the only truly disgraceful thing we could do would be to run away," another Uchuhage insisted, staggering back as his mighty chop was deflected, shaking him to his bones.
"Would it help if I slowed down? Gave you more of a chance?" Mozu asked.
"Absolutely not!" The Uchuhages shouted indignantly.
"If we were to injure you because you were holding back, we would never forgive ourselves!" One said fervently.
One of his companions nodded. "Yes, we will either defeat – or at the very least, mildly inconvenience you – with our own strength, or not at all! We are lowly foot soldiers, but we still have our pride!"
Mozu nodded in approval. "I can respect that. Very well! For the sake of your pride, I won't hold back either!Dinintana Blade Transformation Technique: Raptor Talons!"
DININ ARMAMENT! RAPTOR TALONS!
In a flash of pink light, her sword transformed into a pair of hand scythes with blades shaped like raptor talons, linked together by a chain. Shifting her grip, she started twirling the connected blades around her, passing them from one hand to the other, swinging them around her body, behind her back, between her legs, and finally burying one in the ground.
The Uchuhages applauded the show, and didn't even mind very much when their weapons, armor, and masks fell apart. "That was amazing!" One of the soldiers cried.
"Thanks, I've been practicing," Mozu admitted, retracting the scythe she'd buried in the ground. "Did, uh, did Akira see that?"
The Uchuhages shook their heads as they covered their faces. "No, she's busy fighting Asteroibotchi," one of them reported.
Mozu's face fell. "Oh… I really wanted her to see that…"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have other opportunities," one of the Uchuhage assured her.
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm sure I will!" She agreed, brightening at this. "Thanks, guys!"
Bae scratched his head, bewildered. "Even the foot soldiers, huh? The Rinshi were nothing like this… In any event, Mozu certainly seems to have racked up quite the score for that, with bonus points for style!"
Chief Magistrate Shinza shrugged. "What can I say? She put on a good show. Plus, the princesses liked it, which is good enough for me."
"Mama, can Mozu teach us how to do that?" Kyuhime asked her mother hopefully.
"Yeah, mama, can she?" Nyahime asked eagerly.
Usatan, surprisingly enough, also looked interested to learn.
"When you're a little older, dear," Kyukogo promised.
Akira, as it turned out, had, in fact, seen Mozu's little display, but had been too busy fighting Asteroibotchi to react to it. She thought it was incredibly sexy, and resolved to tell Mozu as much afterwards, but currently she had a Youkalien warrior to defeat.
"You're very agile!" Asteroibotchi remarked as he lobbed meteorite after meteorite at Akira as she zigzagged back and forth around him, dodging most of the projectiles and deflecting others with her blade.
"Thanks," she replied, leaping onto a car, springing off of it onto the wall of a nearby building, and running partway up its side before kicking off, narrowly dodging a meteor that punched a hole through the structure and caused it to collapse. "I'm no raptor tribe ninja, but I make do!"
Flipping through the air, she shot down towards Asteroibotchi, reversing the grip of her sword and bringing it down in a downward strike…
Only for the Youkalien to catch the blade on one of his arms, sparks flying as it failed to penetrate his stony hideHyatt. "A valiant effort, but I doubt even your magic sword can pierce my skin!" He thrust a punch from his free hand at her midsection, but she backflipped off of his body, swiping at his stomach as she landed on the ground, only for more sparks to fly as her blade failed to leave a mark. Asteroibotchi threw another punch at her face, but she ducked the blow, bringing her sword up in a rising strike which, again, generated sparks but failed to do any damage to his arm. Asteroibotchi aimed a kick at her, but she quickly rolled out of range, swiping at his foot as she did so and I'm sure you can guess how little effect that had.
Asteroibotchi raised his arms, summoning another meteor shower to try and strike Akira, but several yellow arrows rained down from the sky, striking the missiles and destroying them in a chain reaction before they could hit the ground. "Thanks, Sora!" Akira called up at the yellow ninja, who saluted her, fired an arrow into Asteroibotchi's face, then resumed his duty of shooting down as many meteors as he could.
As Asteroibotchi grimaced and rubbed his eyes, had been briefly blinded by the flash from the arrow impacting his face, Akira raised her blade and concentrated her power, causing her glowing hair to shine brighter and start whipping behind her. "If my sword isn't strong enough… Maybe I just need more of them! Dinintana Blade Transformation Technique: Tyrant Fang!"
DININ ARMAMENT! TYRANT FANG!
In a flash of red light, her sword turned into a larger, longer blade, resembling a broadsword more than a katana with a white triangular blade with a zigzagging groove going down the middle. The reason for this groove became apparent when Akira ripped the sword in half, revealing the blade could split in two to create dual swords, each with one straight edge and one jagged edge, giving each an appearance reminiscent of a tooth-filled jaw.
Akira promptly launched herself at Asteroibotchi, moving like a whirling dervish, her twin swords leaving red streaks of energy through the air as she struck at the rock monster again and again and again. Asteroibotchi found himself on the defensive, unable to do little more than block her rapid attacks, surprised to discover that her fang-blades actually seemed to be able to bite into his stony flesh, carving surprisingly deep scars in his rocky body and sending chips flying everywhere.
"Nngh...impressive!" He remarked, trying to fire a meteor blast at her from point-blank range, only for her to flip over his body, thrusting her swords backwards and digging them into his back as she fell back towards the ground, causing him to grunt in pain. "It has been quite some time before I faced an opponent who could actually hurt me… However, your blades will have to do more than that to-"
And that's when one of Akira's blades struck one of the cables wrapped around his body, severing it. Steam was expelled from the cable, which flapped about wildly and forced Akira to take a few steps back, shielding her visor. "What the-"
And suddenly, as the flailing cable unraveled, Asteroibotchi's left leg, which it'd been wrapped around, fell to pieces. "Oh dear," Asteroibotchi remarked, glancing down at his missing limb, now lying in chunks of rock on the ground around him with an astonishingly low level of concern. "I wish you hadn't done that."
"Oh, shit!" Akira gasped, horrified. "Are, are you okay?!"
Asteroibotchi waved dismissively. "It's nothing to worry about. I can easily reassemble myself later. I used to be a bit more solid, but after years and years of combat, it's gotten more difficult to concentrate on holding myself together, so I need these cables to keep myself in one piece."
Akira considered this. "So, what you're saying is, if I can take out those cables, I win?"
Asteroibotchi shook his head. "On the contrary, if anything it'll make things harder for you and I see you're not listening," he lamented as Akira charged towards him, blades at her side. "They never do."
"That's because you're obviously trying to trick me into staying away from your weak spot!" She cried.
"I'm really not," Asteroibotchi insisted, forming a meteor in his hands… And hurling it at the ground at his feet, setting off an explosion right in Akira's face. Akira cursed and skidded to a halt before she could run into the flames…
And Asteroibotchi lunged through the fire, moving surprisingly agile for a rock monster with only one leg, though his foot being a rocket thruster probably helped. He unleashed a series of dizzying punches at the ninja, who, caught off-guard by the sudden attack, now found herself on the defensive, sparks flying from her suit as his metal claws occasionally penetrated her guard and struck her. As she was pushed back, she stumbled over a crack in the ground, regaining her footing a second later…
But in that second, Asteroibotchi set off a point-blank meteor blast in her chest, sending her flying, her blades clattering to the ground as they were dislodged from her grip. "You have fought well," Asteroibotchi complimented her, forming another meteor in his hands. "But this ends now!"
He hurled the projectile at Akira, who braced herself…
Only for the meteor to slam into a massive spiked tower shield. Sparks flew as the meteorite pushed angrily against the shield, trying to break through, but the spikes glowed brighter and brighter the more force the missile exerted, and finally sprang outwards with a bright flash, flinging the meteor right back at the startled Asteroibotchi, who cried out as he was blasted off his foot.
"Tetsu!" Akira cried in surprise, glancing up at her rescuer. "That was… That was pretty close! Thanks for the save, big guy!"
Tetsu glanced down at her, and she got the feeling he was smiling under his helmet. Stay behind me, he signed.
Akira nodded, grabbed her swords, and hovered behind the Ankylosaurus ninja. Considering his size, and how big his shield was, she was completely hidden from the view of Asteroibotchi as he staggered back to his foot. "Oof… Wasn't expecting that…" He muttered. His eyes widened as Tetsu slammed his shield against the ground a few times, the clang echoing throughout the district, and started charging forwards, sparks flying and the grating sound of metal grinding against pavement filled the air as Tetsu's shield scraped against the surface of the streets as its owner rushed the Youkalien warrior.
Startled, Asteroibotchi quickly generated more meteors and hurled them at the charging Tetsu. Unfortunately, when they slammed into the shield, it simply absorbed their kinetic energy and rebounded them back at their creator. It didn't come as quite a surprise this time around, though, and Asteroibotchi managed to dodge the deflected attacks with surprising agility given his size, composition, and the fact that he was hopping about on one foot, even if said foot was a rocket.
"Okay, there's no breaking through that shield," he muttered, conjuring up half a dozen more meteors. "Let's see if I can't go around!"
At a mental command, the missiles shot towards Tetsu, only to abruptly change course, veer around the green ninja, and attempt to strike him from behind…
Only for Akira to make quick work of them with her twin blades. "Sorry, you're not getting through our defense!" She bragged.
"Oh, but can you get through mine-" Asteroibotchi starts today, only to yelp as Tetsu reached him much quicker than he expected, and was forced to thrust his hands out to catch the ninja's shield. He grit his teeth as he was pushed a few feet back, his sole lower appendage struggling to get traction even when he fired his sole thruster at full force. He quickly conjured a pair of meteors which slammed into his back, pushing him forwards and finally allowing him to get his foot properly grounded, halting Tetsu's charge. "Impressive, but-"
With a ferocious roar, Akira sprang onto Tetsu's shoulders and leapt into the air, curling into a ball and pouring energy into her hair, which elongated, hardened, and became sheathed in an energy construct resembling a Tyrannosaurus tail which she slammed down on the Youkalien warrior, who was forced to release his grip on Tetsu's shield with one hand to block the attack. He nearly was knocked back, but quickly summoned more meteors to slam into his back to keep pushing him and giving him balance. "Not… Bad… But I can still-"
And that's when Kenji erupted from the ground behind him and drove his gauntlets into Asteroibotchi's back, drills spinning at maximum power as they dug into the Youkalien's rocky body. This, finally, caused Asteroibotchi to scream in agony. His foot buckled, and his arms trembled, but he grit his teeth, somehow managing to hold steady despite being attacked on both fronts…
And suddenly, a pink streak zigzagged around him, sparks flying as it struck him again and again. With a blur, the streak resolved itself into Mozu, her back to Asteroibotchi, her Talon blades flashing. Asteroibotchi goggled. "What-"
And that's when the cables wrapped around his arms and remaining leg fell to pieces, causing his limbs to collapse in a pile of rubble. Without the arms in his way, Tetsu's shield surged forwards, smashing into Asteroibotchi's chest, the spikes digging deep into the device on his torso and shredding several of the cables holding his upper body together, cracks spreading throughout his stony hide as he was squeezed between Tetsu's shield and Kenji's drills.
Akira's energy tail slammed down on the Youkalien's head, flattening it, then back flipped and landed on the ground just as Tetsu and Kenji withdrew, her blades swinging forwards to catch Asteroibotchi's battered torso between them, the jagged edges digging into his sides like the teeth they emulated. "Tyrant's Bite!"
She charged up her blades with red dinpo, causing energy construct resembling the two halves of the Tyrannosaurus head to appear around the swords, applying just a little more pressure…
And the construct head chomped through Asteroibotchi's body, its mighty jaws slamming shut as they ripped the Youkalien's torso in half. Asteroibotchi cried out, what was left of him falling apart while Akira dramatically turned her back on him, the broken fragments of his body littering the ground behind her. She threw back her head and roared triumphantly, what little glass remained in the surrounding city block trembling and breaking as the buildings were shaken to their very foundations, some of the more damaged structures collapsing to the ground from the strength of her exultation.
"Wow! What a battle!" Bae gushed. "A stellar display of teamwork, which awarded the Diningers a ton of points!" He frowned as the Shinobiryu score rose significantly. "But… That was kind of brutal. Did they kill him?"
Kyukogo smiled enigmatically. "No, they did not. This battle is not over just yet…"
"That was incredible, you guys!" Mozu gushed. "Especially you, Akira," she added, glomping her girlfriend and nuzzling her chest.
Akira laughed and rubbed the shorter girl's head affectionately. "You weren't half bad yourself, Mozu. Nice job ripping his limbs apart! And Kenji, you made one hell of an entrance!"
"It seemed like the best way I could help," the blue ninja said modestly.
"And Tetsu, your shield was a real lifesaver back there," Akira complimented the green ninja, who nodded in gratitude. "And Sora… Good job keeping most of those meteors off us!"
Sora rolled his eyes as he shot down another meteor. "Yes, thank you for your praise, it's not as if I'm the one who's been earning us most of our points…"
Kenji frowned. "Wait… If we defeated Asteroibotchi, shouldn't the meteor storm have stopped?"
"Maybe it'll only let up after we defeat him in his giant form?" Mozu suggested.
Akira tensed, her heightened senses warning her of danger all around them. "Or perhaps…" She said slowly as the scattered pieces of Asteroibotchi rattled and slowly rose into the air. "We aren't through with this round just yet."
Tetsu grimaced as the fragmented body of the Youkalien started spinning around them. Oh, he signed. He's one of those monsters.
"I thought you said you had trouble holding your body together!" Akira protested in dismay, raising her guard.
"I do," Asteroibotchi's head said as it levitated into view. "I've compensated for that weakness, however, by gaining total control over the constituent parts of my body! Now, I am a living meteor shower! I applaud you Diningers on forcing me to resort to this technique… But this battle ends now!"
Laughing, the head withdrew as the rest of the rocks started launching themselves at random at the heroes.
The ninjas quickly stood back to back and started lashing out at the projectiles with their weapons as they shot towards them. "Okay," Akira said as her swords tore through several rocks, only for the smaller chunks to ram into her body, causing her to gasp in pain. "I'm open to ideas!"
Kenji's drills whined as he pulverized the rocks hurtling towards him, only to look in dismay as the resulting pebbles and rock dust flew up the shaft of his drills and into his gauntlets, clogging up their inner workings and causing them to come to a shuddering halt. "He seems to be really versatile with his constituent parts! Most monsters like this don't have this fine a control over their components!" He remarked, reverting his broken gauntlets back to their Dinintana form in a burst of blue dinpo and doing his best to defend himself with his sword.
"Monsters like this usually have a core, right?" Mozu recalled as she twirled her blades before her, batting as many rocks away from her she could. "If we can take out the core, then we win the battle!"
It's got to be the head, Tetsu signed. It's staying out of the way.
"It's got to be the head!" Akira reasoned, having been unable to see him sign because her back was to him. "It's staying out of the way!"
Tetsu scowled. That was my idea…
"Now, where did it get to… Right, there it is," Kenji cried, spotting the head orbiting outside the meteor swarm around them.
"Tetsu, use your shield to deflect one of the rocks into his head!" Akira commanded.
Tetsu nodded and angled his shield so that when another rock flew towards him, it rebounded off of his Ankylo Defender, punched through the outer wall of the meteor cloud, streaked towards Asteroibotchi's head…
And froze in its tracks at the last second. "A nice try, but you forget, I have absolute control over-"
Suddenly, one of Mozu's blades flashed through the air and buried itself in Asteroibotchi's forehead. "Eh?!"
Mozu pulled on the chain, pulling the Raptor Talon and the rocky cranium it was buried in back through the meteor swarm and right towards the ninjas. Kenji and Akira leapt into action, swinging their three swords through the air as Asteroibotchi's head shot past them, dislodging the Talon in the process. Asteroibotchi blinked, not feeling any different. "Did you miss-"
And that's when his head fell to pieces.
"We never miss," Akira bragged.
"Wait, that didn't kill him, did it?" Asked a worried Kenji.
"No, if it had, the judges would probably have called and end to this, and besides, the rocks are still flying everywhere," Mozu pointed out.
Wait. Why are the rocks still flying? Tetsu wondered slowly.
Akira facepalmed. "… Shit. His head wasn't the core, was it?"
"No, it wasn't," the part of Asteroibotchi's head that had a mouth replied. "And now, I shall defeat-"
He was interrupted when a yellow energy arrow shot through the air and struck a very small, unremarkable rock that none of them had noticed, pinning it to the wall of a nearby building. "No," Sora proclaimed, gliding down to land nearby as Asteroibotchi cried out and all the rocks fell out of the air, the skies clearing as the meteor storm came to an end. "You will not."
"Sora! Great save!" Mozu cheered.
"But how did you find the core?" An astonished Kenji asked.
"Yes, how?" Wondered an incredulous Asteroibotchi.
Sora shook his head. "His head was too obvious a target. Clearly a decoy. I used one of my clan's ninja arts to give myself pterodactyl eyes," he explained, tapping his visor, which briefly flashed yellow. "With my enhanced vision, I was able to quickly pick the core out from the rest of the rocks. Then I just needed to make the shot, and the battle was won. Well, this round, anyway."
Very cool, an impressed Tetsu signed.
"Pterajonin will be very pleased," Akira agreed. "And so will Petra, I bet."
Sora blushed under his helmet. "I-I wasn't trying to impress her!"
"Suuuuuuuuuuure you weren't," Mozu crooned.
"Oh, so you weren't trying to impress Akira with that little display earlier?" Sora shot back.
"Th-that's… I mean… No, totally not!" Mozu squealed in denial, turning pink under her helmet.
I don't believe you, Tetsu signed.
"Actually, I thought it was impressive," Akira admitted.
Mozu gasped joyously. "You saw it?!"
Akira nodded. "Yeah, it was really cool! Oh, and Tetsu? I bet Jiro would think everything you did was awesome, too!"
We're just friends, Tetsu signed quickly.
"Nobody said you weren't," Kenji pointed out.
… Shut up.
Asteroibotchi burst into laughter. "Such camaraderie! Such teamwork! Truly, the five of you are worthy opponents! I am honored to have been bested by you. Well done, Diningers! Well done indeed!"
"What he said!" Bae cried. "With that, the Diningers have finished the first phase of this rock-hard battle, and earned a boatload of points in the process!"
"And well-deserved ones at that," Shinza remarked as the Diningers' score skyrocketed.
Bix nodded in agreement. "You have done well, Diningers. I think the fate of the planet is in good hands."
"They shall indeed be fascinating opponents," Kyukogo agreed. "But remember, this is merely the first round of the first event. We aren't finished here today just yet."
"Yay!" Kyuhime cheered enthusiastically.
"Asteroibotchi's gonna come back big!" Nyahime added. "Isn't that great, Usatan?"
The rabbit girl nodded quietly.
"So, Hegemon Kyukogo, how is Asteroibotchi going to be enlarged for the second round?" Bae asked the kitsune Empress. "A magic spell? An innate ability? Space lasers? Hopefully not space lasers, those are kind of played out."
Kyukogo smiled and shook her head. "No, not space lasers." She snapped her fingers. "Orochimecha! It's feeding time!"
The eyes of one of the robotic serpents making up the Youkalien Palace ship lit up. It reared back its head, shrieked, then dove into the ground, burrowing beneath the surface of Mount Fuji.
The ground started shaking, and a moment later the serpent head erupted from the street, rising high above the broken skyscrapers and screeching again, its cries echoing across the city.
The ninjas stared up at the head in awe. "Holy crap, it's bigger than a brachiosaurus Shinobiryu!" Mozu cried.
"My mom could totally take it," Akira insisted, though she didn't sound entirely certain.
"Are we going to have to fight that thing at some point?" Kenji worried.
"Probably," Sora murmured.
Tetsu grimaced. We're going to need bigger dinosaurs.
The mechanical serpent bent down to observe them, its red eyes regarding the ninjas with complete disinterest, clearly unimpressed. It shifted his gaze to the remains of Asteroibotchi, shrieked again, and opened its mouth and started inhaling, sucking the pile of debris into its mouth.
"Asteroibotchi!" Akira cried in horror.
"Don't worry," the animate chunk of mouth assured her as it vanished into the serpent's gullet. "I'll be fine! I've done this before!"
Once the last piece of rubble had been inhaled, the serpent shrieked once more and then retreated back into the hole from which it had emerged, popping back up again on Mount Fuji. All eight serpents started writhing and dancing, their cries blending together into an oddly harmonious melody as energy crackled around them and the lights of the palace brightened in intensity.
A large bulge moved up the length of one of the serpent's bodies, and the mechanical beast opened its mouth and spat a massive projectile at the city. As it screamed through the air, the projectile uncurled to reveal itself to be a gargantuan Asteroibotchi, fully recovered and his body once again in one piece.
He landed with an impact strong enough to send tremors throughout the city, leveling all the buildings surrounding him and causing car alarms to go off miles away. As he spread his arms, the skies once again darkening and raining meteors down on the land below, he bellowed, "Ready for round two, Diningers?"