Emerging From the Shell
by Butterfly Girl
Insert disclaimers from chapter one here This part is rated PG-13 for a stabbing basically. It may be too high, but I'm not taking any chances, ya know? All the rest is a comfy PG due to the
topic.


Kojiro

Things went from bad to just plain ugly in a hurry. Max, one of my old friends, was now possesed (I think...) by his darker half and was out to kill us. Onbin, Batafurai, and Tarento were living out their worst fears due to some nightmare collars, meaning we were short a good amount of offensive power. Luckily, Taiga's computer was functioning, and she had activated the emergency call button. Every warrior in Crystal Tokyo that could transform was on the way thanks to her, and I was sure we were going to need that extra boost of power. "This is BAD!"

"For you, that is," Dark Max sneered.

Traveler added, "NOW WE..."

"YOU are coming back. SWORD OF DESPAIR!" Traveler became a sealed sword in Dark Max's hand.

I heard from behind me footsteps. I glanced quickly over my shoulder and saw Mori Annai, Meioh Miyabita, and my sister (all transformed) had gotten here safely. Judging by the look on Annai's face, Dark Max was going to suffer AT LEAST a huge amount of pain if she had any say in fate.

Miya walked up to me and whispered, "The Elders are guarding the palace, the Repliods are on the way, and so are the other Little Senshi." I nodded to her and she quickly moved over to her brother.

"You shall all succumb to the darkness inside you!" he yelled.

"If you were a REAL warrior, you wouldn't have done this to them!" I said, motioning to my fallen teammates.

"HMPH!" he grunted, then dashed off. Before I could react, I saw he was currently holding a sword to Riki's neck. "Wise words, Angel, but they won't save your wife."

To the untrained eye, Riki appeared to not realize that her life was now resting in that psycho's hands, looking like she was perfectly okay with the situation. However, I could see in her eyes that she was scared senseless. THAT sent me off the deep end.

Before I could react, a blur of orange and green solved the problem. Tonbo, completely tranformed and VERY mad, had stabbed Dark Max through his shoulder with her glaive and used it to peel him away from my wife. Although he had a large gash in his shoulder the size of her blade, the glaive was free of blood. All of this had been done in one clean jump, and she was now crouched down on the ground, smirking up at him. "Enough said."

"NICELY PUT, Tonbo!" Hatsu yelled, also transformed. She then raised her left wrist, the Uranus Earthen Bracelet glowing teal. "BRACELET WITH POWERS OF URANUS, HELP ME IN THIS BATTLE! URANUS CHARMING FLASH!"

"MIRROR FORCE!" he yelled, reflecting her attack back at her. She was now completely wrapped up in her own mind. "Now for you, Little Saturn...NIGHTMARE SYNDROME!" He blasted Tonbo into a tree, putting her under a sleeping spell.

Riki looked around, from Miya spazzing about the fall of her best friend to our trapped princess. Yeah I'd say we're screwed...
Her enthusiasm was VERY motivating...

"NOT SO FAST!" was heard. We turned again and this time saw Bass, X, Zero, and Dynamo had made it in one piece.

"PRISM CASTING!" Dark Max called out, trapping them each in a prism in a dazed state.

"BASS! NO!!!" Taiga yelled. Riki went from mildly ticked to infuriated, her protective instincts taking over.

Shuzika whispered to me, "It's all up to you to come up with a plan, Kojiro, so I suggest you do it quick."

I knew what to do. "HORN OF HEAVEN!" I yelled, attempting to blast a healing tune. However, Dark Max broke the horn.

"Nice try, but no dice!" he said, knocking me into a tree. Riki screamed in anger, charging up an attack.

That never got the chance to hit.

A huge beam of fire hit Dark Max, knocking him back. Hisaki, Riki's little sister and the one she gave her Super Little Mars powers to, ran up. "Leave my brother-in-law alone, ya freak!"

"Hisaki, stay back!" I commanded. She, in true Mars fashion, ignored my command.

"Hmph!" In a quick dash, Dark Max had Hisaki in his clutches. "BUH- BYE!" He then vanished in a smokescreen.

"HISAKI!" I screamed, falling to my knees and sobbing my heart out.
Taiga

Lion and Angel were both sobbing, something I hadn't seen too many times before and had NO wish to see again. Little Mars had been kidnapped, and we had no idea where Dark Max had taken her. "Bass...Batafurai...all of you..." I muttered, in complete and utter despair.

The rest of the Little Senshi ran up, each one of them shocked at the sight in front of them. Little Venus ran over to Butterfly, then to the prism containing Zero (her boyfriend). Little Pluto was infuriated over the capture of her boyfriend and the attack that knocked Little Saturn out of commission. The Wolf Senshi (also known as Annai, the former Sailor Little Jupiter) walked up to me, shaking her head in disgust.

"Kojiro?" we heard a familiar voice ask. We turned and saw Proto Man had come. I seemed to be the only one that took it like it was nothing special.

"YOU!" Before we could react, Angel had pinned Proto to the nearest tree.

"KOJIRO GET OFF OF HIM RYUKIN AND I REPROGRAMMED HIM YOU DAMAGE HIM AND I'LL KILL YOU I SWEAR IT!!!" My okaa screamed, running up in Senshi form.

"Okaa....down..." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder (which easy, as I'm acutally taller than her by a good amount). Man, she's embarrassing when she's panicked... Angel and Proto both gave us the wide-eyed stare. "Okaa, some uncontrolled fear of Onbin's is what drew the enemy here. Sadly, she's stuck in her nightmare by that collar, along with the fallen ones littering the ground, and we can't get them out." Then, for good measure, I added to Proto, "Hey there, remember me?"

"...Yes..." he choked out.

Angel dropped him. "Sorry, man..."

"It's okay, you didn't know."

"This is so pathetic it's acutally funny..." I heard Wolf state. "We're all standing here while OUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND LOVED ONES ARE OUT COLD, LIVING OUT THEIR WORST FEARS! HHEELLLLOO, AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS THIS?"

"OW!" we all screamed, except for Lion. She was still sobbing for her kidnapped sister.

"Relax, Hisaki will be okay..." Dark Max said as he reappeared, "until she loses her memories! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Riki

Nothing ticks me off faster than a person who threatens my family and friends, and this guy had done all of that. But his reign of terror would end here and now, even if I died in the process.

I stood, wiping away my tears and glaring daggers at the fool. Kojiro, I knew, was by my side, ready to help end his reign. "You're going pay..."

"...WITH YOUR LIFE!" Kojiro finished.

"Who's gonna stop me? A pathetic Angel and his Tarzan-like wife? HA!" Dark Max drew his sword.

"Try your captive's sister, future Queen of Mars, and her husband, the captian of the Silver Knights. You've invoked the fires of Mars, flames you won't soon forget. The rage is all-consuming, which you will soon see first hand!"

"Try me!"

"HEAVEN'S..." Kojiro jumped into the air, a white circle forming around him. He held up his sword as a white light engulfed it. "...JUDGEMENT!" He then dove towards Dark Max.

Dark Max did the same move, only he stayed on the ground and the light and circle were red. "HELL'S JUDGEMENT!" Much to my surpise (and complete horror), he and my love were in a deadlock.

THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

Honey, attack him now! Kojiro mentally called out.

"LION...BLAZER!" I screamed, fueling my attack with my anger. It plowed Dark Max over, breaking the deadlock. He screamed in pain as Kojiro landed.

"HORN OF HEAVEN!" He blew the Song of Healing, freeing all of our friends from the various spells that they were trapped under. They were all pale and looked like they had been to Hell and back, but overall were fine. Onbin was shaking, but seemed to be gaining ground.

They sure didn't waste any time, as each one charged up their attack as fast as they could. From between Hatsu and Otome, I saw Hisaki. She smiled to me, then let her attack go.

"MARS...RAGING...FLAMES!"

"MERCURY GLACIER FREEZE!"

"THUNDER BLADE!"

"VENUS BEAUTIFUL REVOLUTION!"

"NEPTUNE TSUNAMI!"

"URANUS LANDSLIDE!"

"SATURN DEADLY SLASH!"

"PLUTO MOMENTARY TORNADO!"

"PLUTO WINDS!" Shuzika and Miya's attacks combined, as they always did when those two attacked together.

"SYMOCONISE JEWEL FLASH!"

"SHINING WIND!"

"EAGLE STRIKE!"

Each Reploid also attacked, Bass going first. "MERCURY BATTLEIZER ACTIVATE!" he yelled, transforming himself into the Mercury Archer. "MERCURY TRIDENT ARROW!"

"NIGHTMARE THUNDER!"

"Z-SABER: QUAGE BLASTER!

"MEGA BUSTER!"

"BREAK COMET!"

Kojiro had his wings over his body, obviously charging up energy. "DIVINE BLASTER!" he screamed, letting loose a huge energy beam.
The 17 attacks hit Dark Max in one clean sweep. He screamed as his dark side turned back into Traveler and he again became just plain old Max.

"NOW YOU SHALL PAY!" Traveler screamed.

"DOLPHIN WAVE!" The Mako yelled from behind Traveler as Max transformed back into Knighttron.

"CRIMSON LANCE!"

Traveler dropped to his knees, coughing up blood. Batafurai stepped back in horror as Annai and I moved forward...just in case we were needed to truly finish him off. "AUH...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Traveler literally exploded into a million multi-colored sparks. When we opened our eyes, our powers were gone once again.
Onbin

I sunk down to my knees, the memories of those nightmares still playing through my mind. My entire past with my father had been replayed to me, from things I had blocked from my mind to things that haunted me for as long as I could remember. I closed my eyes, trying to shut them all of out my mind.

A hand was lain upon my shoulder, and I slapped it away. "Are you okay?" Max asked.

I looked up, my eyes meeting his. "Get...away..." I shot at him, scared that a guy had actually gotten that close to me (and even more scared that he or the others may learn my secrect).

"For CRYING OUT LOUD On-chan!" Batafurai screamed at me.

"YOU DIDN'T SEE WHAT I SAW!" I shot at her, jumping up.

"Well, we would if you LET US!" Riki shot back.

"HECK NO!" I screamed, running away from them, but they followed...