As the sun rose in the morning, Rika let out a pleasant sigh, stretching her body as she sat up in bed and awoke.

Getting out of her bed, revealing the simple light blue bra and panties she wore over her amazing figure, Rika took a moment to admire herself in the full body mirror hanging from her closet door.

It was Saturday and thus the one day the Protectors use for major training, unless something important gets in the way, such as a threat to the city, Nene holding a concert or movie shoot, and similar events.

Undressing and heading into the shower, letting the water run down her body, the red haired heroine took a moment to think about how her life had changed over the years, as well as the man who not only helped that changed, but captured her heart in the process.

To Rika, her modeling gig was always a front, a means to make a living, appearing as though she was walking in her mother's footsteps, while in reality she put her efforts into her heroine life, following her grandmother's steps and mostly working on her own against those who threatened the world with the dark arts, never allowing anyone to get too close to her, still remembering the pain she felt when her father abandoned her family.

But on that fateful day over three years prior, when Rika had joined a small group of mystics to stop a rampaging monster summoned from the Dark Realm, one that killed all those with her, and nearly killed her as well before, like a knight in shining armour, V-Force arrived and not only saved Rika, but working together, brought the beast low.

After that, Rika found herself drawn to the armoured hero, accepting his offer to join the Protectors, where she learned more about Davis Motomiya, not only falling for his looks, but also to his personality, his kindness, determination and his will to protect those around him and believe in the best of people, traits Rika admired, which made her desire Davis even more as her lover.

Even when Tai pulled her aside and told her about his sister, Kari, it only made Rika desire Davis even more, loving how devoted Davis can be, and hoped one day that she could be the recipient of that devotion.

As she finished getting dressed, Rika put on a smile and headed out, looking forward to another day, not only with her team, but also at another chance to possibly win Davis' over and live out her deepest fantasies with him.

-Later-

Within the elevator of the Protector's base, Angie, wearing her Thunderstrike outfit, minus her mask, with a towel around her neck, stretched her arms over her head as she took the elevator to the training level of the base, hoping to use the training techniques Mikey discussed with her, as well as some of the tech Izzy installed, to help improve her speed and mobility in combat.

In the beginning for them, it was just Angie and Mikey together fighting as a team, with the red haired speedster always following the lead of the flaming hero she admired for so long, until they ran into a group of thugs causing trouble in their hometown of Koto.

While most of the thugs were easy to take down, one masked villain in particular, who would later be identified as Fusionist before he joined the Dark Legion, took the pair by surprise, nearly taking them down, had V-Force and Dragonheart not arrived in time to save them, where the pair then joined the Protectors and never looked back.

Upon the elevator door opening, Angie walked out on the second level of the training center, before looking with some confusion to see Rika, Nene and Zoe, each in their heroine outfits, though Rika had her mask off and Zoe lowered her face mask, leaning against the railings as they looked down towards the sparring room below with dreamy looks on their faces and giving off small sighs.

"Hey girls, what's up?" Angie asked as she approached, frowning as none of the three replied, confusing her as she turned to look at the direction they were looking in as a bright blush came across the speedster's cheeks.

Down below, Davis and Takuya were sparring with one another, using training staves as they commenced with their training, revealing that neither were wearing a shirt and allowing the girls to take in their muscular forms.

Quickly shaking her head of perverted thoughts, Angie looked at her female companions and sweatdropped as they let out small dreamy sighs.

She already knew that Rika and Nene were hopelessly in love with Davis, but looking at Zoe, knowing that the blonde was close to Takuya, Angie had to ask. "Which one are you watching, Davis or Takuya?"

"Yes..." Zoe merely replied as she never took her gaze off the two heroes sparring, causing Angie's eyebrow to twitch at the vague answer.

Unlike the others, who were found by Davis or Tai and invited into the Protectors, Takuya and Zoe sought them out.

Both had been raised at a young age together by the Order of the Elements, gaining a strong bond between them, before three years ago when the heads of their Order told the pair of mystic warriors that they were to seek out a powerful hero that they would befriend and fight with, and got what was needed for them to become students at Odaiba High.

It didn't take long for the pair to find Davis, where Takuya revealed the truth about him and Zoe, as well as the fact that they knew about Davis as V-Force, and after swearing to work together, the pair joined the Protectors, happy with their new friends, though Takuya was not always thrilled with the way Zoe eyed Davis at times, even though he knew she loved him.

Shaking her head at her fellow heroines' behaviour, Angie turned and started to walk away, saying over her shoulder. "Well have fun, I guess. I'm going to go train."

"I think Mikey's sparring next." Nene then said, a smirk growing on her face as, though she didn't look to check, the brunette knew that Angie had stopped in place, her face now matching her hair as she imagined Mikey shirtless and sparring with Davis, a little trickle of blood coming out of the redhead's nose, before quickly rushing into her training room.

Still not taking her eyes off of Davis, Nene let out a dreamy sigh, remembering when she met the maroon haired hero a year ago, when he helped save her and her audience at a concert venue she was at, where a group of super-powered thugs wanted to make a name for themselves by taking down the idol heroine.

At the time, Nene felt she was shallow, using her heroine status to help boost her career, never imagining any villain would actually come for her head on until that night when, like a knight out of her dreams, V-Force, along with Vixen, Dragonheart, Hitech and Lilly came to the rescue, where Nene worked with the Protectors to take the villains down, before the brunette idol accepted V-Force's invite to the team, not only liking the idea of being on a team, but also wanting to get to know V-Force more, feeling attracted to him after he saved her.

It was a decision Nene did not regret as she got to know Davis better, not only finding him a dreamboat with his looks, but also falling for his personality as she dreamed of being by his side, not just as a teammate, but as a lover as well.

The idol heroine knew she had competition in the forms of Rika, as well as the girl who seemed to have already claimed his heart, Kari, but Nene did not feel deterred, but instead felt more driven to win over Davis' heart in the end.

Nene, Rika and Zoe then snapped out of their dazes when they noticed that Davis and Takuya were done sparring, shaking one another's hand as they made their way up the stairs to the upper balcony, where the three heroines moved to meet the pair, who greeted them as they got up.

"Hey girls, hoping to get some training in?" Davis asked with a smile, while Rika and Nene both had the same mental image of the kind of 'training' they would like to do with their maroon haired leader.

"Well, now that you mention it, I was hoping to get some training in with you, Davis." Rika then said with a suggestive tone, which caused Nene to glare at her before she quickly added. "So was I."

Davis then seemed to go into thought, before smiling as he said. "Now that I think about it, there is some training that I wanted to go through with the two of you."

Takuya and Zoe looked intrigued by what Davis had in mind, while both Rika and Nene smiled brightly, their minds already thinking of what kind of 'training' Davis had in store for them.

-Moments later-

'This is not what I had in mind!' Both heroines mentally screamed as they dodged missile fire, laser strikes, and of course, dodging Davis' blades as he rushed at them in his V-Force armour, the two girls in a bit of a panic as they dodged for their lives as Davis had brought them into the teams' most intense training room, put his armour on, and told them to work together against him.

"Come on you two, focus!" Davis yelled as he rushed up to swing his blades at Rika, who quickly brought her mystic shield up to try and block the attack, only for a missile to detonate behind her, causing her to crash into the ground, followed quickly by Nene as she was hit by a laser blast.

From the main monitor, Tai, Mikey, Cody and Suzie sighed at the sight, with the two younger individuals thinking on how complex Mikey's tactical thinking could make their training simulations.

Back in the training room, Nene and Rika sat on their knees as they caught their breaths, while Davis landed in front of them, removing his helmet, where the young idol asked. "Why are we doing this again?!"

"Because out of everyone on the team, the teamwork between the two of you is... well, almost nonexistent." Davis said honestly, where he then added with a continued seriousness. "Nene, you should have taken out that missile before it got closer to Rika, and Rika, you should have used your barrier to protect Nene as well."

Mentally, Davis let out a sigh, knowing the reason there was tension between the two girls.

He might act oblivious, but he knew full well how the two felt about him, and while flattered, he didn't want to give them false hope, knowing he couldn't return their feelings.

"If this was not a simulation, then you two could put the whole team in jeopardy. We'll run this again later when you're rested up, but whatever is going on between the two of you, you need to put it aside and work together before someone takes advantage of it." Davis then finished, causing Rika and Nene to look down as they thought about what he said, part of them knowing he was right, but both still feeling resentment towards one another for having a crush on the man each loved.

From the monitor room, Tai nodded his head as he heard Davis words, knowing he made the right choice all those years ago.

Originally, it had been just him, Mimi and Izzy when the Protectors started, before Davis and TK joined in, along with Henry and Suzie, where Tai saw first hand Davis' skill and leadership capabilities.

When the time came for the group to choose a leader, having seen him as his older brother-like figure, Davis had nominated Tai for the position, but the older brunette turned it down, trusting Davis' leadership over his own, and he hasn't regretted the decision since.

"Those two look worse for wear." TK commented as he, Izzy, Mimi and Henry came by, seeing Rika and Nene on the monitors, while Henry did his best not to narrow his eyes at seeing his sister once again at the one place he knew he could always find her, leaning against the monitor station and talking with Cody.

'Just play it cool, Henry, they are just friends." The older of the Wong siblings thought to himself, trying to keep his instincts as a big brother from getting the better of him.

"Well we better get some training in ourselves, who knows If anything could happen today." Tai then said, getting nods from the group as they all decided to workout, not knowing what the day would bring.

-Meanwhile-

Within her dark sanctum, Kari sat in an almost meditative position, the dark book on its pedestal nearby as the magic around it tried to break the seals, before the Night Queen felt a familiar presence around her, where in her mind, she saw a large shadow with glowing red eyes circling around her.

"The time is near, my Champion. Once the book is opened, you can begin the ritual. But first, there are a few obstacles that need to be removed." Zhaitan said, causing Kari to nod as she listened to the Dark One, hearing what he had to tell her, while in her mind, Kari knew that, once her ascension was complete, that she would deal with him in her own way.

A little while later, in her full Night Queen outfit, Kari stood on the balcony overlooking the training grounds, with Matt on her right and Sora on her left as the rest of her followers bowed respectively below.

"I have a task for some of you, a diversion to deal with the Protectors and the Police, while the rest of you deal with a target I need eliminated." Kari said, getting nods from her servants as the Dark Legion readied for their tasks.

-An hour later-

As the afternoon sun hung high in the sky, the Odaiba pier was alive with action as people played games, enjoyed the rides, ate and just had fun, before some people noticed a strange dark cloud from above, blotting out the sun in the process.

Then, out of every shadow, they began to emerge; creatures that looked like living shadow people, only they had four arms, red eyes, and razor sharp claws on their hands, the shadow demons known as Stalker, which began to attack and terrorize everything in sight, sending the civilians into panic as they ran away from the creatures, as more appeared, some resembling large, bipedal shadow creatures with muscular forms, tendrils coming out of their backs, and no eyes on their black faces, only a gaping maw with razor sharp teeth, the demons known as Brutes.

From her sanctum, Kari sat in a meditative position, her body glowing with a dark aura as she channeled her magic, allowing the creatures to take form and do as she bid them.

As the Shadow Demons ran rampant through the pier, a black portal opened on the far end, where Shadowknight, Psychonis, Fusionist and Deathstrike emerged, with the dark witch and two of her male companions smirking at the chaos, while the dark spirit warrior remained as impassive as ever as they waited for the 'heroes' to arrives.

-Protectors' base-

Thanks in no small part to their various magic based connections, Davis, Rika, TK, Takuya and Zoe immediately felt something off, sensing the increase in dark energy before the alarms sounded, where Cody rushed to his seat at the monitor station, typing on the terminal as video feeds of the attack on the pier came up, especially on the Dark Legion Villains.

"Why are they attacking the Pier?!" Mimi asked in worry and confusion, where Tai cut in and said in reply. "We'll worry about that later. Right now we need to stop them before anyone gets hurt!"

"Tai's right." Davis then said in agreement, getting the rest of the teams' attention as he added. "It doesn't make any sense to me either, but we can't just sit here. We'll get the answers we need from the four of them and take out four of the Night Queen's followers in the process. Suit up!"

The Protectors all let out a cheer in agreement as they headed out, With Cody continuing to monitor the situation, while Joe went to get the medical room of the base ready for when the heroes returned.

-Back at the Pier-

Looking around, Psychonis could only marvel as she saw all the shadow demons, all under the command of her mistress, running rampant.

Despite the power she had, Jeri could barely hope to summon a few Stalkers, let alone control them.

This was the kind of power she wanted, the power she craved.

When she was a small orphaned child, Jeri was taken in by the mysterious Circle of Shadows, a cult of dark wizards, who dated back to the fall of the old kingdom and worshipped Zhaitan and those of the Dark Realm, where the young witch began her studies into the dark arts.

But finding the strict and almost deadly practices and hierarchies of the Circle a crutch for her, Jeri quickly left, seeking power on her own, before meeting the Night Queen, seeing everything she had hoped to be, without the Circle's leash, within her, and was more than happy when the dark sorceress agreed to teach her in exchange for Psychonis joining the Dark Legion.

Looking to her right, the dark witch then took in Shadowknight as he remained impassive, finding herself drawn to the dark spirit, wondering what he was and how he came to be, but remained focused as she looked back at the destruction before her, a smirk growing on her face.

However, the grin then turned serious as a flash of light came, causing several Stalkers to cry out as V-Force slashed through them with his blades, with Seraph, Songbird and Vixen following up with their own special moves, while Fireguard and Zephyr took to the air with Hitech.

Meanwhile, Dragonheart lead another charge with Lilly, Cyberstriker, Darkblade, Red Nova and Thunderstrike, knocking down several more of the Night Queen's dark creations as Dragonheart empowered his gauntlets, slamming his fist into a Brute, causing the creature to let out a pain filled roar, stumbling back a bit, before dissolving into shadows as the Protectors moved into a single group, each of them back to back as they stared at the shadow demons as they all stopped their attacks, looking at the heroes as they let out screeches of rage and anger, ready to tear the heroes apart.

"Well look who showed up." Fusionist commented with a dark tone, seeing the Night Queen's plan was working perfectly, while looking forward to another shot at ending Red Nova.

"Time to bring the rest." Psychonis then said with a smirk as she looked at Shadowknight, who then lifted up his blade and slammed it into his shield three times, as though signalling, where a pair of dark portals opened behind the villains, causing the heroes to get even more on guard as they heard the sounds of marching.

Looking on at the dark portals, V-Force and the others watched with concern as to what they saw.

From the portals marched out dozens of armoured beings, all clad in dark silver armour that covered their entire beings, save for around their elbows and kneecaps, allowing the knights to move more freely, but it showed a dark mist emanating from within the armour, acting as their bodies.

Their faces were covered by helmets that looked like spiked teeth, a set of giant spiked shoulderplates were set on their sides, while each wielded a spiked shield in their left arm and a blade of pure darkness in their right hand, each blade etched with dark and ancient writing along the hilt.

As the Protectors steadied themselves, they then saw a dozen more figures fly out of the portals, flying into the air and looking down at their enemies, allowing V-Force and the heroes to get a better look at them, finding that like the ground troops, these creatures were also vessels of pure evil.

While the winged forces had similar dark armour as their sword and shielded brethren, their armour was lighter and less bulky, allowing the shadow demons to strike quickly and without mercy.

Their faces were concealed by spiked helmets, each set with a skull that acted as a mask and further concealed the true appearance of the dark army.

While each sported a set of wings made of pure shadow, within their possession, each held a long spear, their choice of weapon for their iminent battle, making them look like a fleet of fallen angels.

The Protectors held their ground, already knowing that, unlike the Stalkers and Brutes, which were ravenous monsters that attacked like wild animals at their summoner's will, these Dark Warriors were real soldiers, the mainstay of Zhaitan's armies, and knew how to fight, especially with Shadowknight as their general.

"We need to take them out, quickly! I'll get Shadowknight. Vixen, Songbird, take Psychonis and try to close those portals. The rest of you, hit them where it hurts!" V-Force called out, getting a cry of agreement from the team as they moved, with V-Force shooting out at Shadowknight, his blades crashing against the dark spirit's shield as he pushed him back, Psychonis, Fusionist and Deathstrike not even flinching as the pair rushed past them, their focus more on the other heroes as the Stalkers and Brutes moved in to attack.

Hightech, Fireguard and Zephyr each flew up into the air, where the winged Dark Warriors wasted no time and gave chase after the group, trying to shoot them down as many gathered dark energies at the tips of their spears and released it a bolts of black energy, each shot narrowly missing the Protectors, where Fireguard extended his blades, blocking a strike from a spear, a scene mimicked by Zephyr as she used her claws to hold one of the Dark Warriors back, before Hitech appeared behind them, gathering electric energy into his gauntlets and firing blasts at the warriors, piercing through their heads and causing the warriors to dissolve into shadows, before the trio of heroes moved to engage the other winged enemies.

With the air forces occupied, Lilly, Thunderstrike and Seraph moved against the Stalkers and Brutes, which launched themselves at the heroes, ready to tear them apart, where Lilly brought her hands up, causing a wall of vines to break through the wooden floor, halting the creatures momentarily, before the vines extended out and restrained them as Thunderstrike quickly moved, slamming her fists and feet into the creatures faces with such might that they snapped their necks, causing the creatures to dissolve.

And with his power over the light, Seraph gathered the energy in his hands, casting it off and dealing painful blows to the Brutes that crossed his path, before circling his hands within his light and going in, assisting his allies as he pummeled the dark beings, causing them to let out roars of pain as they were knocked back and their numbers began to dwindle.

Meanwhile, Red Nova and Dragonheart both turned to see Fusionist walking towards them, and though they could not see his face, the two heroes knew that he was smirking.

"I've lost count of how many rounds we've had over the years, Nova. Let's make this one the last!" The villain declared with an insane laugh as the wood around his feet, along with the metal from the stands and the lone ferris wheel began to creak and moan, before they broke apart and began to fly towards the heroes, who dodged, only to see the materials, as well as the rocks from beneath the pier, start to form around Fusionist, forming a protective layer around him as it took shape, resembling that of a gigantic metallic and wooden serpent that let out a loud roar at the pair as they saw Fusionist within its mouth glaring at them.

"Ok, seriously, how powerful is this guy?!" Dragonheart asked in concern, finding that each time he sees this villain fight, he does something even more powerful and dangerous then the last.

"It doesn't matter what new tricks Fusionist comes up with, we must stop him." Red Nova said in reply, feeling similar worry and concern to Dragonheart, but he believed in his team, in his friends, knowing it would be an ordeal, but they would overcome their latest challenge.

"Stop me? This time, you're both going down!" Fusionist yelled as tendrils of rock and wood shot out of the serpent, heading straight for the heroes as they dodged the attack, with Red Nova using his flaming fist to try and break the tendrils, while Dragonheart formed his energy form, using his dinosaur teeth to try and bite at the serpent's neck, only for the metal and rock to halt his attempt as Fusionist shook him off, before grabbing the energy beast with his serpent mouth, throwing him at Red Nova, who quickly ducked before he could get caught in the throw as Dragonheart crashed into some of the remaining stands, slowly getting up as the pair glared at the masked villain.

As this fight was going on, Deathstrike remained in place as he drew his pistols out and opened fire, taking shots at Cyberstriker and Darkblade, making sure to keep them from getting close to him as they dodged his gunfire, especially as he revealed his more lethal of weapons, his shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, and fired a few salvos.

"I can do this all day, can you two?" The gunslinging villain asked as he continued to fire at the pair, where Darkblade acted, rushing at the villain, doding many of the missiles with her speed, while slicing several that came into her vicinity in half, leaving them to explode just after she rushed past.

"Not bad, but not good enough." Deathstrike said as he pointed his gun at the young ninja, who dodged just in time as the bullet came at her, before the masked villain then backed away, dodging a powerful kick from the older hero as Cyberstriker came down from above, showing that though he preferred using firearms, Deathstrike was not one to shy away from close close combat, delivering a swift kick to the tai chi hero's chest, sending him skidding back, where Cyberstriker quickly moved as Deathstrike resumed firing at him.

With the rest of the Protectors occupied, and seeing V-Force fighting Shadowknight in the air, Vixen and Songbird moved in to take Psychonis out, who remained in place, smirking at the pair, with the ground warriors still behind her.

Speaking her incantation, Vixen started off their battle, sending off a series of fox spirits at the dark witch, while Songbird joined in, her hands glowing blue as she fired blasts of energy at the villainess, only for their eyes to widen as the Dark Warriors moved, the ones closest to Psychonis using their shields to form a wall around her, where the attacks hit the dark metal, barely scratching them.

The Warriors then retracted their shields, revealing Psychonis' dark smirk as her shadow demon guards them charged at the pair, raising their blades to strike, only for a blast of light to hit two, sending them staggering back as Vixen and Songbird turned to see Seraph come to their aid, quickly rushing into the Dark Warriors and fighting them, while Lilly and Thunderstrike continued to remove the last remaining Stalkers and Brutes.

"Go! I'll keep them busy!" Seraph yelled, swinging a blade of light at one of the dark warriors, cutting its body in half as it let out an inhuman shriek, before dissolving away.

"Oh, they don't have to worry about little old me." Psychonis cut in, her smirk growing as she saw the two heroines look at her, where she continued as she said. "They have bigger problems to deal with!"

The two portals behind her then merged into one, large portal, moving into the sky, before everyone heard a loud, deafening roar as something came out of the vortex, causing the Protectors to look in fear at what emerged from the dark portal.

It was a large shadow demon, resembling a dragon made of pure darkness, covered in bones that created a spiked like spine, razor sharp claws and tail, and a skull-like mask covered its face as it floated in the air, raising its head where it let out another roar, its lower jaws splitting open as its mouth widened.

Vixen felt great fear rising within her, knowing that this was a shadow demon known simply as a Nightmare, and while it was not as powerful as the Colossus that once leveled half the city, this brand of shadow demon was still a major threat, and one that needed to be stopped.

"Songbird..." Vixen said, causing the brunette to look over at her, where the heroine idol's eyes widened to see the red haired mystic shaking a little, before Vixen continued as she managed to pass her fear and say. "I... I can't fight it alone. V-Force is tied up with Shadowknight and the others are too busy with the rest. If we don't stop it, the damage it can cause will be unimaginable... please, help me fight it."

Songbird's eyes widened at the request, not only from hearing the fear in Vixen's voice, but also seeing the usually proud and stubborn mystic swallow her pride and as the idol for help, where Songbird remembered what V-Force said to them in training, where the brunette smiled and nodded at her teammate.

They might be rivals in love, but they were also Protectors, and that can first in times like this.

An aura of her energy glowing around her, Songbird and Vixen took to the air, ready to take the Nightmare on, while below, Psychonis watched on with a growing wicked smirk, looking forward to watching these heroines both die painfully.

After another clash with Shadowknight's blade, V-Force looked in shock to see Vixen and Songbird going up against the Nightmare alone, and was worried for their safety, having found one in the past.

"No!" V-Force yelled as he was about to rush in and help the girls, only to quickly dodge a swing of Shadowknight's sword, a stream of dark energy following the wake of the blade as the hero found himself once more fighting the dark spirit.

"Damn you!" V-Force let out as he clashed with the dark spirit, trying to get past him to help his team, but found that, despite his powers seeming to have a strong effect on shadow demons, Shadowknight seemed unfazed, easily blocking the hero's strikes and putting V-Force on the defensive.

"You have no honour, no soul..." V-Force growled as he pushed his blades against Shadowknight's shield before, much to the hero's shock, the dark spirit spoke for the first time as he replied with no emotions. "That is why I do not fear, unlike you... Now you will live long enough to watch them die..."

Shadowknight then pushed V-Force back as his shield glowed with dark energy, before firing a blast at the hero, who dodged as he looked wearily at the dark spirit, seeing that there was more to his foe than V-Force originally thought.

Seeing both heroines rushing towards it, the Nightmare let out a fearsome roar, before widening its mouth even more as it fired a blast of dark energy at the pair, who quickly went in seperate directions in the air to avoid the attack, which left a burning hole in the pier below, going deep into the rock beneath it.

Looking over at the damage, as well as seeing Vixen and Songbird trying to attack the large shadow demon, Fusionist let out a wicked laugh as he turned back to Red Nova and Dragonheart, where he said with a dark tone. "Too bad, I have to admit Songbird was cute, but looks like she's about to finally meet her end, along with you two!"

The construct of rock, metal and wood moved up then, as though to slam itself down on the two heroes, before, much to the villain's surprise, something powerful slammed into the torso section of his construct form, causing it to break apart as he jumped from it, landing on the roof of a stall, before narrowing his eyes to see Fighting Fury now standing in front of Dragonheart and Red Nova as orange energy surged around him.

"Looks like we got here just in time." The fighting hero said as he looked back at the two Protectors, who nodded their thanks.

Meanwhile, Deathstrike was finally forced to really move as energy shots now headed for him, where the gunslinging villain now found himself not only fighting Cyberstriker and Darkblade, but Quickshot as well as she traded shots with the villain, who growled in annoyance at the interruption of the StarCorps.

Seraph, meanwhile, was having a tough time against the legion of Dark Warriors, giving it his all to take down the dark creatures, before finding one coming at him from behind, ready to strike and leaving him unable to react fast enough.

But before Seraph was taken down, the Dark Warrior was cut down by a pair of blades, which followed as shurikens impaled the open areas of the armour upon what was left of the Dark Queen's forces, causing the warriors to fade as a thick mist as Cobalt Warrior and Midnight Raven came to the angelic hero's aid.

"Thanks for that. I wasn't sure how much longer I could've held them off." Seraph said honestly, getting a nod from the pair as the ninja hero replied. "It's no problem, afterall, us hero-types need to stick together."

Above the pier, beams of light shot at the winged Warriors, helping out Hitech, Fireguard and Zephyr, where Starlight flew next to the heroes and did her part, while back on the ground, blasts of dark energy helped Lilly and Thunderstrike with the remaining dark creatures as Shadow Walker stood with the girls, the sight at seeing their own back up made the small group smile.

Growling herself at the sight of the unwanted heroes and heroines showing up, Psychonis then acted, saying an incantation similar to one Vixen used as she held her hands out, a dark symbol appearing on the ground below her, before several dark spirits shot out towards Cobalt Warrior and Midnight Raven only, unlike Vixen's fox spirits, these spirits resembled lions, each letting out fearsome roars as rushed at the pair, where Seraph quickly used his light power to create a shield between them and the attack, groaning as he felt the dark energy collide against his, feeling the relentlessness from Psychonis' dark power.

Above, Vixen and Songbird continued to fight the Nightmare, trying to hit it with their energy and magic attacks from different angles, while keeping their distance so the demonic beast couldn't use its claws or tail to strike them down.

However, even with Vixen's magic, the beast was mostly unharmed as it continued to draw its maw open and fire blasts of dark energy at the pair, who were both growing tired from the constant dodging, knowing that if they stopped for a second, they would be dead.

Thinking for a moment, Vixen's eyes widened as an idea came to mind, where she yelled to her teammate. "Songbird, its mouth!"

Confused by Vixen's call, Songbird examined the dark beast, watching as it let out another blast, where the brunette then understood, knowing that while its body seemed near indestructible, one direct attack from within might just be enough to end the dark creature's existence.

Allowing another shot to pass her, Songbird flew over and beside Vixen, where both heroines began to charge up a combination of Vixen's magics and Songbird's unique energy, where the Nightmare turned its head, ready to attack, before the heroines struck, Songbird firing a huge blast of her energy, while Vixen's magic surrounded it, both giving it their all and causing the energy to take the form of a winged fox that collided with the Nightmare's attack, pushing it back, and consuming the demon with the energy, causing the wicked creature to screech in pain and rage as its body dissolved in a dark wisp, where the sight of the Nightmare defeated left many in awe as they watched the dark creature perish.

Shadowknight and V-Force stopped their battle as the helmeted hero smiled, seeing the teamwork between Vixen and Songbird, while Shadowknight remained impassive.

Even Psychonis, Fusionist and Deathstrike seemed unfazed as they regrouped, looking to see the Protectors and StarCorps surround them, ready to fight and bring them to justice.

"Oh, well. It was fun, but we did our part. See ya!" Psychonis then said with a smile as a dark portal opened behind the trio and quickly consumed them, vanishing with the larger portal, while Shadowknight seemed to disappear in a dark wisp before V-Force could stop him.

Letting out a growl, the hero then went down to the others, moving to check on Vixen and Songbird, who were both on their knees, panting in exhaustion.

"You both did good." V-Force said proudly, his complinet causing the two girls to smile, before Cobalt Warrior then approached the trio and asked in concern. "True, but what did Psychonis mean by 'They did their part'?"

-Other side of town-

Deep inside what appeared to be a normal hotel in Odaiba, within a temple-like structure, the sight of torn up corpses and charred bodies filled the sight of many as Red Phoenix, Dark Hawk, Asta and Charm Mistress walked over their victims, heading towards what looked like a statue of an ancient deity.

"That was too easy." Dark Hawk said in disappointment, having wanted a challenge from these mystic defenders.

"I can't believe I'm here and that idiot Fusionist gets to have the real fun." Charm Mistress pouted, narrowing her eyes as she thought of her fellow Legionnaire.

Both had been recruited by the Night Queen at the same time and, though she'd never admit it, the blonde found Fusionist to be very cute behind his mask, and had wanted him as her pet, only to find that his power prevented her from using her methods of mind control upon him, and his cheeky attitude eventually got on her nerves.

"Quiet, or you'll join them!" Red Phoenix snapped as her hands ignited in flame, not only showing her bound obedience toward the Night Queen, revealing she cared less for her allies and believed all save her Mistress were replaceable, but her actions and tone caused Dark Hawk and Charm Mistress to quickly silence themselves.

Though as a last defender rushed at them, a last ditch effort to stop the evil forces, Dark Hawk quickly swung her right wing at them, cutting the poor fool in half as his body fell to the ground.

With the final obstacle taken down, Red Phoenix turned her fire on the statue once she was close enough to it, where the fire-based villainess unleashed a powerful stream of fire at it until the stone began to melt, before it exploded in a burst of energy that was inside it, a disturbance that, back at the pier, V-Force, Vixen, Fireguard, Zephyr and Seraph felt, sensing the flow of the natural order of magic shifting, and not in a good way.

-Sometime later-

Back at the Protectors' base, the group saw the new reports, not only on the attack on the pier, but also the hotel attack, seeing what was left of the statue as Rika, who was sitting on the couch with Nene, said in worry. "That was a ward. One of several made to block the flow of dark magic from the Dark Realm to our world. Now the barrier is weaker because of this."

"So whatever the Night Queen is planning, she needed more dark magic flowing in the world?" Tai asked with some worry, getting a nod from the mystic heroine, while the rest of the Protectors expressed the same worry and concerns as the older Kamiya.

"This also means whatever she has planned, it's going to take time. We just need to figure out their next move, but for now, we need to rest. It's been a long day." Davis then said, where he was just as worried as the rest of the team, but knowing there wasn't much more they could do now, the maroon haired hero decided it would be best if he and his teammates took sometime to relax and recover after the pier incident.

"I'll talk to my mystic contacts tomorrow and see if they can help us figure out what is going on." Rika offered, getting a nod from Davis as he smiled at her, causing the redhead to fight off a blush from the trusting expression of her leader, before the group began to leave for the rest of the day.

Remaining on the couch, however, Rika and Nene sat in silence, before the redhead turned and said. "Thanks for trusting me out there."

"No problem. We're teammates after all." Nene replied, before gaining a smirk as she then added. "But don't think for a moment this means I'm going to back off while you take Davis."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Rika replied with her own smirk, before sighing as she then added. "But still, we both have to deal with the bigger issue when it comes to Davis..."

-Much later-

As the sun set on the day, Davis was in a more cheerful mood, feeling content and relaxed as he walked alongside Kari at the park, the pair having met up just to hang out for their weekend and spend a little time together, both taking their minds off of their respective secret personas and their agendas.

Kari, meanwhile, was happy herself, not only for being with her love, but also for the fact that another obstacle in her plans was removed, knowing that with the dark magic in their world rising, she would be that much closer to crushing V-Force and his Protectors, and make way for her ascension, making her world and having Davis by her side at the time.

'Then there is this...' Kari thought to herself as she stopped walking for a moment, taking in the back of maroon haired love as a dark thought that came to her mind often enough came back once again.

It wasn't the first time it came to her mind, using her mark on Davis, showing him the way things should be. She knew that he must have some kind of power inside of him, and she imagined him standing in dark armour, standing over V-Force's broken form, ready to embrace her and rule alongside her.

'Davis, you have been so loyal to me, but now it's time you were devoted to me completely.' Kari thought as she gave off a small and devious grin, her right hand glowed lightly with a dark aura as she started to bring it up, about to mark Davis and bind him to her will, to turn him into the dark champion she desired.

However, in the moment, Davis turned and looked at her, causing Kari to keep her arm at bay as she saw the genuine and sincere smile on her face, his brown eyes filled with warmth as he told her. "I'm glad we can spend time together, Kari. I really miss the days when we saw each other everyday, but I truly appreciate the time I do get to be with you. I'm glad I have you in my life, I just don't know what I did to deserve someone as sweet and kind as you."

And just like each time the thought of marking Davis came to her, his warmth, his kindness, his love would always cause Kari to stop, finding herself unable to mark Davis and take away his kindhearted side and bring out the darkness she knew he surely held deep within his heart, where she would cancel out her spell and to wrap just her arms around his left and lean her head against his shoulder.

"I'm the one who should be asking that, asking what I did to deserve you in my life, but I'm thankful for it." Kari then replied with a caring smile as the pair continued to walk together, where Kari thought to herself. 'Someday, I'll show you the world we can have, Davis. It will be perfect, just you and me together forever.'

Seeing her smile, meanwhile, Davis kept up his own smile, while he thought to himself with determination. 'No matter what it takes, I'll keep that smile on your face, Kari, and I won't let anyone, not even the Night Queen, take that from you.'

Within the Dark Realm, Zhaitan re-framed from growling, seeing that his champion missed a perfect opportunity, but smiled nonetheless.

'Patience. Both will come to me in time.' The Dark One thought with a smirk.