ACT 27

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A man in a black suit stopped walking down the foggy alley. He lit up a cigarette and looked around. When the faint light touched him, his Caucasian looks became more apparent. He became shifty as several minutes passed by.

Meanwhile, a shadow from afar moved carefully towards him.

"You're late, Kayama." He turned around as he puffed cigarette smoke out of his nose.

The small shadowy figure smiled. "What made you think I'm Kayama-kun, Keith-san?" a young boyish voice asked which shocked the American.

"Who are you? H-how did you know my name?"

Setsuna chuckled. The blue-haired boy lifted his head and looked at him with eyes that sent a shiver down his spine. "Let's play!"

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"Don't you think Ohgami Taichou is overreacting?" Kanna, who was leaning on her door, asked Sumire, who had just come out from Sakura's room.

Sumire was surprised when she saw the large woman still outside. She had thought that the Okinawan was already sleeping.

"Don't you think everyone is?" she answered back, flipping her hair with an air of pride.

Kanna nodded. "You got a point."

"Besides, I really don't care." Sumire folded her arms, not looking at Kanna.

"Oh, really?' Kanna smiled while staring at her. "I wonder what you were doing inside Sakura's room for so long."

"And why should I tell you?" Sumire grinned.

Kanna didn't know why, but she blushed. 'Don't tell me I'm jealous over that,' she thought grimly.

Before she could think of a reason, the alarm sounded.

"What a long night this is," Sumire said.

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Command Room

"What's the condition, Vice Commander?" Ohgami asked. All the girls were already there.

Ayame told Kasumi to enlarge a certain place at the Ueno Park on screen. "There's some disturbance in that area. The sensors told us it's evil. . . and a familiar one, I might add."

"A familiar one?" Ohgami repeated.

"I suspect it's one of the Kuronosukai's. But we're not still sure about that."

Ohgami nodded. "I understand. We're going to check it out right away." But before he told them to move out, the young captain looked at Ayame meaningfully. The Vice Commander understood what he meant.

"Maria," Ayame called out to the Russian.. "You're going to stay here."

"Vice Commander...," Maria said, her voice almost unheard. Her eyes looked warily at Ohgami. "Yes, Vice Commander, I understand."

'I'm sorry, Maria.' With that settled, Ohgami turned to the other girls. "Imperial Floral Assault Unit, move out!"

Ayame tapped Maria's shoulders when they left. "He's just worried about you."

She knew all too well that the Russian was feeling cross about being left behind from battle... again.

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Ueno Park.

"Don't let your guard down," Ohgami warned. "Use your powers well in order to feel them. I suspect that our enemies are playing the same trick on us again. Be careful."

"Woah, don't tell me it's one of those invisible Wakijis you've encountered?" Kanna said from the other line.

"Might be, Kanna," Ohgami replied.

Sumire received a blow from the rear but managed to stay on her feet as she moved sideward. "Any other plans?"

"Where- where did that come from?" Kohran looked at the blank screen and radar.

"The attack might come from anywhere," Ohgami answered. "Like I said, be alert."

"As if we could see them," Sumire mumbled.

"Aaaagh!" Another attack from the back toppled the red Kohbu.

"Kanna-san!" It was Sumire.

"Kanna-san, are you alright?" Sakura asked.

"Itai!" Kanna held her head. "Don't worry, I'm okay."

"Stay close to each other," Ohgami held his heart. 'I won't let the same thing happen again.'

"Ohgami-han, Iris is gone!" Kohran informed.

"What?"

"She disappeared."

"How did that happened?" Ohgami was in a panic.

"Maybe she's teleported somewhere else," Sakura suggested.

"But I can't find her signal, Sakura-han."

A voice laughed.

"Who's that?" Ohgami looked upward.

A man with dark hair and blue eyes slowly appeared in the air, floating. "Hello, Sakura. It's so nice to meet you."

"Who are you? How did you know my name?" Sakura asked frantically.

"Isn't that--…" Sumire remembered that familiar man whom she caught talking with Tsubaki. "...Keith-san?"

"What?" the rest said in unison.

"So that makes sense. He's the one who sent the dolls!" Ohgami stated.

"But Iris said told us before that the presence in my room wasn't evil," Sakura countered.

"We don't have time to debate this, Sakura-kun. We need to stop him at all costs."

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Dear Captain. You are so hotheaded. Why is that so? Do you really want to die that badly? By the way, why is it that one of you is not here? It's a shame, really. I'm very eager to see her."

Ohgami gritted his teeth. "Surrender now, Keith-san."

"Try me, captain. Try me," Keith grinned.

As commanded by Ohgami, the green Kohbu, fired a warning shot at Keith David but he seemed to vanish in thin air after the smoke subsided.

"He's gone!" But what scared Kohran more were the several metal noises around her. A haunted figure suddenly appeared from her screen. The bespectacled girl panicked and fired her cannons in several directions. "AIIIEEE!"

"Kohran, calm down!" Sakura tried to reach her but the constant firing hindered her way.

After running out of ammunition, the next thing Kohran knew was a direct hit from the top. Her Kohbu hit the ground hard and she was knocked unconscious.

"Kohran!" Sakura called out. "Kohran!"

"Two down," Keith said.

"You'll pay for that!" Sakura said with a grim voice. A pink, charged aura surrounded Sakura's Kohbu but something from behind her lifted her up. "Ah! Let me go!"

"Sakura-kun!" From his position, Ohgami made a calculated guess as to the enemy's location and, with a swift attack, the young captain managed to give it a fatal blow.

A Wakiji appeared before their eyes and released its captive. The pink Kohbu safely landed.

"So, all we need is bait, huh?" Ohgami said.

"Shoui! Don't ever think of making me one," Sumire quickly said.

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Command Room.

"Vice Commander."

"Yes, Maria?" Ayame said, not moving her head from the screen.

"I believe I should go there and help them."

"Let's see if we can get more info about our new enemy."

"He's not the enemy."

Maria's words made Ayame turn to her. "What do you mean?"

"I personally know Keith David," Maria admitted, her eyes on the floor.

"You know that man?"

"The enemy must be using him."

"I don't quite understand… when… I mean how…"

"She's right, Ayame-san," a male voice said from behind.

Ayame realized who it was. "Kayama?"

"At your service," he replied with a salute.

"This is surprising."

"I feel responsible for this," Kayama confessed. "I was not on time for our... transaction."

"Transaction?" Ayame was confused. When did Kayama have other hidden transactions aside from Yoneda's bidding? Or was it something that she and Yoneda didn't know of? And why was Maria involved? "Please explain, Kayama-kun."

Sweat covered Kayama's face.

Maria took the chance to intervene. "Let me explain."

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"Vice Commander, Sumire's Kohbu is also down now!" Yuri reported. "We couldn't get a signal from Iris!"

"Ohgami-kun, can you hear me?" Ayame called. "Keith David is not the enemy! Can you hear me? Ohgami!"

"Ayame-san, I read you."

"It turns out that someone from the Kuronosukai is controlling him from behind like a puppet."

"But how are we supposed to know where he's hiding?" Ohgami asked back.

"We're still figuring that out."

"Only two standing," Keith hummed and maniacally laughed. "Just accept it; you're on the losing side now."

"Sakura-kun, stay close to me."

"Yes, Ohgami-san," Sakura replied.

"Let's see if you can deal with this," the American sneered.

"What are you doing?" Ohgami asked out loud.

"A big, BIG surprise!"

"I don't like this, Ohgami-san," Sakura said.

Keith laughed again.

"Say, Mister Ohgami, what does it take to form a giant demon?"

Ohgami widened his eyes in disbelief. "Oh, no. That bastard. He's going to combine all of them!"

"BINGO!" Keith purred.

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"Unnghh…" Kohran's eyes began to open but her vision was still blurred. "Where is---" Her hand searched for her fallen glasses. Her head was still hurting from the rough blow. "Such force...," she murmured as she finally found her eyewear.

She touched her head and felt the swollen part. "Next time, I'll suggest wearing a helmet while riding a Kohbu." At that thought she remembered something.

She switched the patch to the headquarters hoping that Maria was still there. "This is Kohran, guys, do you read me?"

"Yes, Kohran, we read you," Kasumi replied.

"Good, Kohran, you're back," Sakura said when she heard Kohran's voice.

"Yes, Sakura-han, but my Kohbu is currently incapacitated and I can't fight in my state. Is our enemy identified yet?"

"Setsuna." Maria gritted her teeth angrily. She knew she had to do something. This was her fight. She was about to go when Kohran called her.

"Maria-han! Maria-han, good! You're still there in the Command room. I want you to do something for me."

"What are you planning, Kohran?" Maria asked.

"Maria-han, please listen. Go to the hangar. Next to my Kohbu's bay, you should see a black device that looks like a helmet. It's one of my new inventions. Push the white button on the back to turn it on."

"Kohran.. why-"

"We don't have much time. Just trust me, okay?" Kohran gave her a thumbs up.

Maria nodded and went to the hangar. Her eyes quickly caught the helmet. She did as Kohran instructed and turned it on.

"So what am I going to do with this?" Maria asked when she got back.

"Put it on and tell me what you see," Kohran said.

The markswoman did what she told. "I can see different colors coming out of everywhere." Maria grimaced.

"Good. Good. It seems that it's working properly. Take a look at Ayame-han and tell me what you see."

Maria looked at Ayame. Her eyes widened. "She's glowing."

The Vice Commander might not be able to move the Kohbu but, nonetheless, she had an exceptional amount of spiritual aura surrounding her. It was so white.

"It can detect spiritual aura's much more accurate than our radar. It can detect auras like that of Iris and also that of the enemies. It usually gives white color but it changes to black if it is an evil aura."

"Sounds like we need to upgrade our radars soon," Ayame said while looking the invention on Maria's head.

"Thank you, Kohran." Maria quickly moved out to help her teammates.

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