ACT 9

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"Maria, what the hell are you doing here!" Ohgami exclaimed at the black Kohbu.

The black Kohbu just faced him and raised its gun above their heads. Maria fired a shot that had been infused with her spiritual powers. The freezing bullet struck the enemy and began to encase it in ice.

As the ice covered its body, the Wakiji began to lose its ability to become invisible. As was expected it was really huge, about four to five times the size of the Kohbu.

Ohgami's eyes widened at the size of the creature. 'Man, it's a miracle that I'm still alive after getting hit by that thing.'

"Taichou! Get your sword and slash him now!" Maria shouted.

Ohgami understood what she meant and pulled his two swords.

The Wakiji tried to get out of its cold state but it was too late and the white Kohbu sliced it in two.

"YAAAAAAAhhhh!"

KABOOM!

When Ohgami landed, steam puffed under the Kohbu's knees. 'Oh, great. My Kohbu has worn out!'

OoOoOoO

Sakura's location.

'Oh, dammit. Ohgami is getting all the points!' Sakura said to herself as she tried to move her Kohbu. Her Kohbu's right arm was already paralyzed and she was not even left handed!

'But anything's better than not trying!' With that thought, she took up the sword in her Kohbu's left hand. 'Gotcha!'

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"There's still one more!" Maria yelled.

"I know, but we can't see them!" Ohgami said. "Anyway, how did you do that?" he asked.

"Lucky guess," Maria replied in a monotonous voice.

Ohgami winced. 'We'll still need more than luck to fight our way out.'

There was silence as they waited for the enemy's next move.

Ohgami could feel blood and sweat flowing down his face. 'Aw, damn!' He wiped it irritably.

"Taichou, I'll try to fire again!" Maria finally broke the silence. 'I hope my luck serves me well,' Maria said to herself.

She raised the gun again.

. . .to the left.

No, no, to the right.

Higher, above your head. Don't you know the size of that thing?

No, what if it sees your move?

'Dammit, where?' Maria cursed to herself in frustration. She wasn't sure where to aim.

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Sakura closed her eyes and started to focus her power into the sword. 'Yes, concentrate Sakura. That's the key. You don't need eyes to see the enemy. You can see them with your heart!'

"Sakura, make your father proud. Make the Flower Division proud," she recalled Maria telling her.

'I will, Maria-san! I will make YOU proud of me!'

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Maria maneuvered her Kohbu as silently as she could while listening for any suspicious noise. The Russian kept some power focused in her gun, ready to fire the moment the enemy revealed its position.

"I know you're near, so come out and face me, sucker," the Russian muttered under her breath.

'Damn, this is making me nervous,' Ohgami said to himself as he watched Maria's Kohbu move from one spot to another. 'I can't support her in my state.'

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Sakura saw it in her mind as her Kohbu began to glow pink. 'I see you! I see you, YOU giant EVIL monster!' She gripped the sword tightly as she charged it with more energy.

"HAJA-KENSEI OUKA-HOUSHIN!" she yelled out loud as she released the power from her sword.

"SAKURA-KUN! NOO!" Ohgami yelled.

BOOM

The force hit the Wakiji without fail, but it went beyond and also struck Maria's Kohbu, which had been standing just beside it.

"AAAAaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Horror painted Sakura's face at the sound of that cry and she opened her eyes. "NOO! Maria-san!"

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"Uggghh. . . my head hurts. What happened?" Sumire asked herself. She had landed heavily on a house but luckily no one was hurt. Her Kohbu was in bad condition. She couldn't move it.

The Gold Kohbu stood beside her and pointed to Ohgami's place. "Look!" Iris said.

Sumire turned her Kohbu's camera to where Iris was pointing at. She saw the Pink Kohbu with a destroyed arm, a kneeling White Kohbu and . . . a damaged Black Kohbu.

Sumire winced. 'Black Kohbu? Wait a minute, did Maria-?'

"Iris will check them," Iris said.

"Where's the enemy?" Sumire asked but the French girl was already preoccupied with her Oniichan's situation.

Sumire soon found the answers out by herself. From here, she saw two destroyed giant Wakijis on the ground. One had been frozen and cut in two and the other had been hit by a strong force... which had evidently hit Maria's Kohbu as well.

'That ice must have been Maria-san's doing... but what happened to the other Wakiji?' Sumire wondered.

Sumire noticed that Ohgami was out of his psycheon armor and was trying to open the hatch of Maria's Kohbu. 'Ensign looks bloodied... and the damage on Maria-san's Kohbu looks very serious,' she thought.

The brown-haired woman left her Kohbu and walked quickly towards them. 'I wonder what really happened.'

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Up close, the damage to the Black Kohbu looked even more considerable. 'Wait a minute. . . I know THIS kind of attack!'

'Don't tell me that Sakura-?' Sumire widened her eyes and turned to the Pink Kohbu. Sakura's Kohbu stood there unable to move.

"ONIICHAN, He's hurt!" Iris yelled when she saw blood covering Ohgami's forehead.

The French girl quickly opened her Kohbu's hatch and ran to Ohgami. "Oniichan, you're hurt. . . and Maria!"

Ohgami turned to Iris. "I'm alright, Iris. " He resumed quickly to Maria's Kohbu and tried to unlock it. His face was full of worry. "I doubt Maria is. . ."

The French girl jumped out and tried to help Ohgami. "Oniichan, let me do it!"

In the blink of an eye, the Black Kohbu's hatch opened at Iris' psycho-kinetic command.

"Thank you, Iris," Ohgami replied and quickly turned to the unconscious Maria. 'Oh, shit. She looks awfully hurt.'

"Aaaahh! What happened to Maria?" Iris asked worriedly when she saw Maria's bloody condition.

"Get help, quick!" Ohgami commanded.

"Right away, Ensign," Sumire responded as she headed back to the Imperial Theater.

Ohgami turned to look at the motionless Pink Kohbu. 'Sakura-kun, how could you make such a reckless move?'

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'What have I done?' Sakura asked herself repeatedly, still shocked. 'This is not what I wanted to happen! Why? Why? Why? How could it have turned out this way?'

She held her head in disbelief. "This is just a dream! This is just a nightmare."

Her eyes moved again to the monitor and she knew that what she was seeing was not a dream. Ohgami lifted an unconscious Maria out of her Kohbu.

Sakura saw what damage she did to her beloved. It hurt her more than ever.

"NOO!" the Japanese girl screamed. "MARIA-SAN!"

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Same day at Hana-Yashiki Branch.

Kohran's Laboratory.

"Nuh-uh! If you're thinking of making me try that, then you've got the wrong idea!" Kanna said, avoiding the device Kohran was holding out to her. The device looked like a small box with a screen on one side.

"Ahh, Kanna-han. Don't be such a bad sport. This won't explode, trust me," Kohran said smiling. "This is called an Emotion Box. You just place your finger here . . ." Kohran pointed at the small hole in her invention. "Then see what color will appear."

"So what will happen then?" Kanna asked.

Kohran cheerfully smiled. "Just watch." The Chinese girl place her finger in the black box then green color appeared on the other side of the box.

Kanna raised an eyebrow. "Okay, it's green. What does that mean?"

"Green means happiness! And that's what I'm feeling now. See? Why don't you try it?" Kohran suggested still smiling.

Kanna was still having doubts about it but since it didn't explode she might as well give it a try. "Okay." She placed her finger in the hole and PURPLE color appeared on the box's screen.

Kohran narrowed her eyes at the color.

'Okay, what does that mean?' Kanna sweatdropped.

Kohran propped her glasses up higher and looked suspiciously at Kanna.

Kanna gulped. That color had just reminded the martial artist of someone in particular.

The box's screen changed color again. Now it was orange.

Kohran chuckled at Kanna's scared reaction. "Gotcha! Hahahahahaaaa!"

The red-haired woman took her finger away and crossed her arms. "Okay, what's the point of making fun of me?"

"Kanna-han, you're pretty scared! Why? Hahahahahaaaa," Kohran continued laughing.

"What does it mean anyway?" Kanna said quite annoyed.

When Kohran caught her breath from all that laughing, she replied, "Orange means nervousness or fear while purple means doubts and uncertainty."

Kanna held her balled hand to her face and coughed. 'I thought it meant something else besides the color.'

"Ahhh! You're blushing!" Kohran teased.

Kanna looked away.. "Nah, stop teasing me."

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Kanna left the Chinese girl alone in her room along with her crazy inventions. She decided to check with Ayame for a short while before finally leaving the place, after all her mission was already accomplished.

"WHAT!" Ayame's familiar's voice startled Kanna before she could knock on the door.

"What do you mean Sakura did it? She miscalculated? Okay, I'll be there with the others," Ayame said before putting the phone down.

When the assistant manager opened the door she found Kanna looking at her worriedly.

"Ayame, what happened?"

Ayame gave the tall woman a grave expression before she told her the news. "Maria was badly hurt in a skirmish. And it seems that Sakura was responsible for it."

"Wait a second. Are you sure it was Sakura?"

Ayame slowly nodded with a grim face.