SHONEN ALLIANCE
RE:BIRTH
OPENING THEME: KU ZEN ZETSU GO (Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters)
Swift Gaia, the Fierce Knight barreled through the crystal palace's shattered gateway, coming to a stop in a large entry way. Yusei's Duel Runner came to a stop beside Yugi's Knight as Piccolo, Toshiro, Zoro, and Sanji entered behind them.
The heroes were left in utter shock as they analyzed the chamber in which they'd found themselves. The entryway was a long, symmetrical hallway crafted from the same green crystal as the outside. A carpet led to a massive wooden door that led further into the castle, a dozen crystal pillars extending from floor to ceiling on either side of the carpet. Standing between each pillar and the carpet was a woman.
A total of 24 women lined the entryway, their hands chained above their heads and their wrists were securely chained to their respective pillar. All any of them were clad in were golden bikinis, carefully molded to emphasize every curve of their bodies. Finally, a metal bit was fastened into the mouth of each captive, preventing any form of truly intelligible speech. The prominence with which the captives were displayed dismissed any notion that the gags were meant to prevent calls for help, making the only conclusion that made sense to be that silence was the only reason for them. Yugi remembered Teresa saying that the Dark Saiyan of Lust saw his captives as trophies of his conquest, and it took little imagination to guess how he viewed them. Their figures and bodies were his to view and touch as he pleased. Nothing they had to say mattered to him.
"This guy's a real piece of work," Piccolo cursed.
"How could anyone treat people like this?" Kokoa wondered aloud, disgust apparent in her voice.
"They're all royalty from kingdoms that Debauchery has conquered as well," Kakashi pieced together, "they probably had husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, and subjects who Debauchery slaughtered without a second thought, and that's just one Dark Saiyan. How much suffering are these guys responsible for?"
For their part, the captive women were slow to register the heroes presence. Their faces and bodies looked to be well cared for, likely less to take care of them and more so Debauchery's "trophies" didn't lose their luster, but their eyes were cold and without light. They looked thoroughly defeated. Sanji had to light a cigarette and take a long draw from it to calm himself.
"Bastard. This is no way to treat any lady," he growled after a moment, "this Dark Saiyan has a lot to answer for."
"He will," Yami declared firmly, playing a spell card, "Swift Gaia, activate Black Luster Ritual! Go, Black Luster Evolution!" Black flame engulfed Gaia and Black Luster Soldier emerged from the flames. "CHAOS BLADE STRIKE!"
Black Luster Soldier ran past the pillars on the left while Toshiro flew past the ones on the right, slicing through the chains above the women's heads. As the chains fell away, the freed women dropped to their knees, caught off guard by their sudden freedom. Some had a dazed expression on their faces and knelt motionless while others seemed to regain their senses quickly, removing their gags and shakily rising to their feet, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Okay, so what's the plan now? Don't know if you noticed, but we can't exactly take 'em out the way we came in," Kokoa pointed out.
"Piccolo, Goku's Instant Transmission, could he use it to get the captives to safety?" Yami asked Piccolo.
"Sure," Piccolo replied, "take a step back. I'll get Goku's attention."
The others did as they were told as Piccolo began channeling his ki. Soon, his power was rapidly rising with such intensity the room was shaking around him.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
To those able to sense ki, Piccolo's rapidly increasing power stood out like the beam of a lighthouse on a moonless night.
"Whoa, do you think Piccolo's in trouble?" Krillin asked.
"No," Tien replied bluntly, "if Piccolo were powering up to fight something, we'd be able to sense his opponent too."
"Dad, I think Piccolo's trying to get your attention!" Gohan realized quickly. Goku nodded, placing his fingers to his forehead and vanishing.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Teresa's armor had been destroyed and the silver body suit that covered her had several tears and rips over it. She'd received several painful injuries and her breathing was heavy…
…and she was winning!
Debauchery's eyes were cold and angry as he stood up. A powerful elbow strike to his gut from the silver princess had dropped him to his knees. He coughed into his hand and looked in shock as several drops of dark red blood splattered onto it!
"You're not allowed to die yet, Debauchery," Teresa growled, "not until you pay in blood for all the suffering you've inflicted."
"Damn little brat," Debauchery cursed, his eyes almost glowing with anger, "I'm going to enjoy breaking you, slowly!"
The two charged again, exchanging a fierce rain of blows. Debauchery threw a quick jab that caught Teresa on the right side of her abdomen, staggering her and causing her to lose balance. Debauchery tried to take advantage of the momentary opening, throwing a haymaker at Teresa's head with his other arm. Fortunately, Teresa recovered too quickly. Using her left arm, she guided the blow harmlessly past her head. Debauchery's momentum forced him to follow through after his miss, turning him 180 degrees so he faced his three subdued Lunarian royals instead of the very unsubdued one. He had no chance to right himself before Teresa landed a vicious strike to the center of his spine. The power of the blow was immense, causing the injured Debauchery to stagger forward several steps before dropping to his knees.
Valeria could barely believe what she was seeing. Teresa had the advantage over the Dark Saiyan of Lust! Her big sister was going to defeat Debauchery and set everyone he had captured free! She couldn't understand why her sister hadn't fought like this when Debauchery had invaded their home. Her hope might have been crushed had she simply spared a glance towards her mother. If she had seen the look of utter horror in her eyes, she might have rethought her chances.
Unfortunately, Valeria was blissfully unaware of her mother's concern, and thought little of it when Teresa let out a light cough.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Isabella and the injured soldiers she'd been treating weren't entirely certain what to think of the situation they had found themselves in.
Mere minutes before, Goku had appeared out of thin air with 24 women clad in nothing but carefully crafted metal bikinis. He'd only told the green princess to take care of the newcomers before flying off to rejoin the fight.
Piecing together who the women were wasn't difficult, fortunately. Isabella hadn't been expecting the state of the captives, but they were clearly a group of Debauchery's captives. The Knights of Lunaria had set to work immediately. They had no means to clothe the former captives, so they had no choice but to remain in their demeaning garments for awhile longer, but the knights were doing all they could to give the liberated captives some comfort.
For her part, Isabella was inspecting the former captives' health, and had been surprised so far to discover that none of them had suffered any kind of real damage. When she thought about that, it did make some sense. After all, Debauchery wouldn't want his "trophies" to be less then perfect, so they'd probably at least been fairly well cared for. That was a good sign for any of the other captives that would soon be delivered to Isabella, but for now, the princess could only wait and see.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
The infiltration team had split into three teams upon exiting the entry chamber and were now working to thoroughly search the castle.
Their unopposed progress was short lived, though the foes that had confronted them in the palace were not the same creatures they had fought outside. Instead, the hallways had swarmed with living suits of armor made from the same green crystal that made up the walls of the palace.
Whatever the crystal was, it broke as easily as glass when Kokoa's spiked club crashed through them as she worked down a hallway along with Sanji and Yugi.
Yugi was caught a bit off guard by how the young vampire fought. Moka's fighting style was graceful and almost elegant. A vicious, deadly dance that seemed to emphasize the beauty and grace that imbued every aspect of the vampire's form and figure. Her younger sister, on the other hand, fought more like a thug, brutish and direct. Even so, it hardly mattered how different the sisters fought. After all, they both got results.
Two suits of armor blocked the three's access to another doorway. That didn't last long, however, as Kokoa's bat and Sanji's foot quickly reduced the two crystal guardians into piles of crystal shards. Yugi sensed something as he approached the door.
"Valeria's deck is in there," he revealed.
"Is that really somethin' we have time for?" Kokoa demanded as Yugi placed his hands on the doorway.
"If it's important to Valeria, then I say we make time," Sanji replied, relighting his cigarette, "by now, the lady's probably been through enough, that bit of kindness is the least we can do."
"That's not the only reason I need to go in there," Yami admitted, "something is wrong with Valeria's Duel Spirits."
"Her Duel Spirits? Like your Dark Magician?" Sanji concluded. Yami nodded in affirmation.
"Something wrong? Like what?" Kokoa asked, clearly confused.
"I intend to find out," Yami declared, pushing the doorway open.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"LIGHTNING BLADE!" Kakashi roared as he slashed through several crystal guards in quick succession with his electric attack.
Another group was cut into crystal pieces by a flurry of slashes from Zoro. Still, there was no shortage of the crystalline foes blocking their route forward!
"TAKE AIM, JUNK ARCHER!" Yusei ordered as his Synchro monster fired an arrow through the hallway, shattering any guardian to slow to get out of the way.
The heroes were focused on the foes in front of them, failing to realize that one had managed to get behind them. By the time they discovered it, the creature was striking at Yusei, leaving no time to react to it.
The attack on the Turbo King was a surprise, his salvation even more so, coming due to a round house kick delivered by Elemental Hero Neos that shattered the crystal guardian before it could injure Yusei. Completing the surprises was Neos' master, Jaden, catching up to the team.
"Phew, finally caught you guys," Jaden gasped, doubling over as he tried to catch his breath, "not cool, leaving me behind."
"You're timing couldn't have been better, Jae," Yusei admitted.
"Saw you guys head in and figured you could probably use my help," Jaden admitted, having quickly recovered his strength, "after all, inside a castle is a bit to small for Stardust Dragon to throw down, so you're kinda down your best monster."
"You're not wrong," Yusei admitted, "space is a bit tight in here."
"Right," Jaden agreed, "oh, by the way, I might have brought some friends!" He indicated behind him to where the mindless creatures from outside were beginning to shamble after the heroes.
"Guess it was a bit much to hope they'd be to busy outside to follow us in," Kakashi sighed as crystal guards and creatures locked the team in a pincer formation.
"Keep pushing forward," Yusei ordered Zoro and Kakashi, "we'll watch our back."
"Right," Zoro replied as he and Kakashi both nodded in agreement.
"Alright, time to throw down!" Jaden declared, facing the monsters encroaching on the heroes rear as Neos leapt between him and them, "get your game on, Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster!" he called, summoning his fused Hero.
Yusei turned to face their new foe as well, as Junk Archer took up a firing position behind him! "Let's rev it up, Junk Warrior!" He called out as he summoned his Synchro Warrior to stand alongside Neos!
Zoro and Kakashi, meanwhile, faced the crystal foes ahead of them, Zoro holding his swords at the ready as Kakashi prepared for battle.
The heroes seemed to be perfectly coordinated as Zoro, Kakashi, Neos, and Junk Warrior all charged their respective foes simultaneously!
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Outside, the battle raged on. While Lunaria's knights had become temporarily disorganized after Teresa's kidnapping, it hadn't taken long for their commanders to rally their forces and regain control of the fight.
The loss might have been utterly crushing, but the presence of the powerful heroes leading the assault, combined with the need to now rescue another member of their royal family, had restored the soldiers' courage!
The grizzled old war general who had stood with Teresa during the knights briefing stood at the head of his army, wielding a broadsword easily as large as Ichigo's Zangetsu. It was clearly a very heavy blade, but the old veteran wielded the blade like a master. It struck savagely, cleaving beasts in half with a single swing as the general let out a mighty war cry.
"Stand bravely and fight mightily, my soldiers!" he roared over the clamor of the raging battle, "show no quarter! Fight until your last ounce of courage is spent! We fight until our queen and our princesses are free and that bastard lies slain!"
His soldiers were only to willing to answer his demands. Each fought with tremendous ferocity, managing to push the encroaching foe further and further back. Renee, Silphia, and Rinoa were still in the fight as well, the golden and violet princesses bombarding the horde with Ki as Renee took a more direct approach, stepping right into the fray to decimate the enemies with her own fists. A creature caught her off guard, attacking from behind, but was foiled by Ichigo deflecting away its attack with Tensa Zangetsu before cutting the creature down with a single, powerful slash.
"Careful!" Ichigo warned, "don't get reckless!"
"I don't have time for these guys," Renee grimaced in reply, "my family's in trouble!"
"I get that you're worried," Clare declared, strolling calmly toward Ichigo and Renee, her Claymore sheathed. Five of the creatures made the mistake of thinking the Claymore had dropped her guard and leapt at her, not even registering her movements before all five fell back to the ground, cut to pieces, "but you'll only make things more difficult if you let one of these blindside you."
One of the creatures had narrowly evaded a killing blow, though it's legs had been cleaved clean off. It tried to crawl away, only to crawl right into Moka who punted the creature several feet into the air and out of sight into the rest of the horde.
"You have to show me how you do that," the vampire teased the Claymore.
"This fight isn't going to end until we destroy Debauchery," Renee growled.
"And what do you plan to do? You already know you can't defeat the Dark Saiyan," Clare warned the princess, "I know it's hard, but you must be patient. We have no choice but to leave the Dark Saiyan to Goku."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Clare may have been certain about her declaration, but even as they spoke, Teresa was putting forth a tremendous effort to prove her wrong. Debauchery was clearly taking her more seriously now, but she still felt she held the edge.
She deflected a blow and countered, knocking Debauchery backwards so he crashed into, then through his throne, destroying it. Debauchery was momentarily stunned, but soon rose to his feet, rubbing his jaw where Teresa had struck him.
"Not bad, Princess," he admitted, grudgingly, "however, that last blow wasn't as powerful as when we began. It seems your power is slipping away."
Teresa's eyes widened with horror as she realized what that meant. Debauchery hadn't been using more of his power against her. Her power had been dropping.
All at once, a terrible pain coursed through Teresa's body and she dropped to her knees, one hand clutched to her heart and the other held to her mouth as she began to violently cough.
"Damn it, not now," she cursed, pulling her hand away from her mouth. Specks of dark, red blood were dotted among the peach colored flesh of her hand, driving her to clench her fist and grit her teeth. Pulling her other hand away from her heart, she punched the floor with enough force to crack the crystal. It took some effort, but finally, she was able to push herself back to her feet. Steadying herself, she glared into Debauchery's eyes, a burning hatred emanating from them that gave the Dark Saiyan of Lust a moments pause. It was only a moment, however, and a wicked smile crossed his lips.
Valeria, meanwhile, would have kicked herself if her ankles weren't shackled. How could she have forgotten. Of course Teresa was powerful. In straight combat, she was probably more then a match for Devour or Debauchery, but that only held true so long as her strength held. That only held true if Teresa's weak heart stayed strong long enough to end the fight.
Debauchery, meanwhile, looked like he was trying to process an offensive joke, deciding whether to laugh or rage at the punchline.
"The crown jewel of Lunaria's royal family, the woman who should be the center of my collection… she's damaged goods? What kind of sick joke is this?" he asked, finally settling on laughter, "whatever. I don't care about your heart, as long as the rest of you is intact. If your heart does give out, I can always preserve the trophy."
"You really are disgusting," Teresa growled, spitting blood onto the castle floor, "but I already made it clear. You won't be forcing me into one of those bikinis of yours while I still draw breath."
"I did just say that was acceptable, didn't I?" Debauchery replied, sounding put off that Teresa hadn't paid attention to him, "I just have to make sure the damage isn't so severe as to ruin the appeal. A bit of bruising won't hurt. Evidence of my victory."
At that moment, the door to the throne room exploded.
"You know, I do have a few issues with regular Saiyans. Some might say Goku left raising his own son to me more then he could be bothered to himself. Always training for the next big fight," a deep, angry voice growled as two figures walked through the dust the explosion had kicked up, "but I'll say this for Goku and Vegeta, hell, I'll say it for Goku's brother and that bigger Saiyan who worked with Vegeta. At least watching them fight never made me feel ill," Piccolo declared as he and Toshiro Hitsugaya emerged from the smoke.
"Piccolo?" Teresa questioned, clearly surprised to see the Namekian.
"Hmm, a Namekian?" Debauchery said coldly, "your species holds nothing of interest to me, so I hadn't expected to face one of you. That said, I've studied the average power of your species. You're no threat to me."
"Is that right?" Piccolo asked, grabbing a hold of his cape. With a fluid, practiced motion, Piccolo flung the heavy training clothes aside.
"Ah how cute, weighted training gear. That's not going to make a difference, you'll still…" Debauchery's taunt would remain unfinished. He barely even registered Piccolo's movement before the Namekian seemingly materialized right in front of him and slammed his fist into the Dark Saiyan, turning his taunt into a cry of pain and shock.
"I'll take that bet," Piccolo declared.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
A woman with long, violet colored hair awaited Yami, Sanji, and Kokoa as they entered the room. She was clad in the same style of metal bikini as the other captives with the addition of a golden visor that covered her eyes and forehead with a shining green crystal embedded over her forehead. Yami clenched his teeth when he saw what was fastened to her wrist.
"Is that Valeria's?" Sanji asked. Yami nodded in affirmation.
"Valeria's duel disc and Valeria's deck," Yami confirmed, "and one of her duel spirits. This woman is the Kiwi Magician Girl."
"You came," Kiwi Magician Girl hissed, holding up the duel disc, "you have some nerve making me wait."
"She's being controlled!" Yugi exclaimed inside Yami's mind.
"This is bad," Dark Magician's voice echoed next, "Pharaoh, we must break her free."
"I intend to," Yami admitted, stepping forward, "leave this to me."
"And what do you intend to do, 'Pharaoh'?" Kiwi Magician Girl taunted mockingly.
"I'm going to free you first," Yami declared, "then I'll take back what Debauchery stole from your princess! IT'S TIME TO DUEL!"
DUEL BEGIN
YAMI YUGI: 4000 LP
KIWI MAGICIAN GIRL: 4000 LP
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Zoro and Kakashi didn't even bother to open the door to the next room, instead just kicking it clean off of its hinges. They weren't sure what they were expecting to find, but they weren't expecting what they found..
A woman with light, brown skin and dark brown hair sat medatatively on the floor in the center of the room. She wore the same metal bikini as the other captives, though the two swords lying on either side of her as she sat unshackled made it clear she wasn't just another captive. Despite that, neither hero believed she wasn't here against her will as she looked up at them, a visor covering her eyes and forehead with a glowing green crystal embedded in the metal over her forehead. The golden bit locked in her mouth meant she couldn't say a word even if she had wanted to as she rose, drawing out the two carefully maintained, glittering, steel katanas from their sheaths, facing the two intruders. A slight smirk crept over Zoro's lips.
"Keep moving, Kakashi," he ordered, pulling his bandana off of his arm and tying it over his head, "this one's mine."
ENDING THEME: BACCHIKOI (Naruto Shippuden)