Round 4 – "Courage and Kindness is not Enough"

Mew Ichigo was not happy. She thought that this mission was easy. 'Defeat every mahou shoujo so the Queen can absorb their magic and add it to her own.' She does not remember why she has to do this, though. All that mattered was to follow the Queen's rule. Yet, here was this one mahou shoujo that refuses to give up. There was nothing special about her! Kinomoto Sakura stood before her, a look of determination on her face. She was battered, bruised, her breathing seems hard and shallow. But her eyes were lit with a fiery will and she clutched her Star Wand so tightly. Her magic does not compare to Ichigo nor her companions! Ichigo knows it takes a lot of magical power to summon the Sakura Cards. It takes even more power to use more than one card at a time! And Ichigo remembers clearly she and her allies has kicked, blasted and beaten that little girl who's so much shorter and frail than them…

And yet Kinomoto Sakura is still standing!

Ichigo's train of thought was broken when she heard a voice. Her eyes focused on Sakura again and Ichigo narrowed her eyes at the new allies that Sakura has managed to acquire. And who were those girls! It was not their business to interfere! People should just mind their own business!

'What was that, Utena-san?' Sakura looked over a bit to her shoulder at the pink haired girl who was trying to whisper to her.

'A sword… I need a sword.' Utena whispered again, peering at Ichigo and her team. 'Even though me and Naru are bigger than those girls, they have magic powering them up. If you can magic a sword for me, it would help a lot. Besides,' Utena grinned, 'what sort of 'Prince' I would be if I don't have a sword?'

'Yeah! And if you can make me a bit more stronger, I'm sure I can take 'em!' Naru whispered also excitedly, showing a clenched fist to Sakura's other side. 'They won't know what hit them!'

'Eh? What?' Sakura was a bit flustered at Utena and Naru's request. 'But I'm not sure how to do that-'

'You shouldn't have jumped in if you didn't think you could win the fight at all then, nyooo!' Dejiko giggled mockingly behind Naru and Utena, who turned and growled at Dejiko.

'Dejiko-san's right. You should try get help. My alien symbiote is enough to handle them.' Kumi stated coolly, stepping in front between the four girls and Ichigo's crew.

'As if we'd let you escape now.' Mew Ichigo suddenly stated, pointing her weapon at Sakura and her allies. 'After we beat Sakura and have her magic sucked out of her, we'll kill YOU.' With that, Ichigo's spell was released. A rush of bright light lashed out and headed straight to Sakura's group.

'I got it.' Kumi clenched her fist before her. Her arm became a mass of steel coils, twisting and turning in the air and formed a shell before her. With a serious look on her face, Kumi leaned forward, digging the tips of her rollerblades to the ground and bracing herself against the makeshift shield. Ichigo's magic connected and created a loud explosion. The force was so much, Kumi was almost tossed aside. As the coils before her becomes undone, Kumi could see Mew Ichigo's team lunging forward already, Lettuce and Mint going to the left, Zankuro and Pudding to the right. The short-blonde girl gritted her teeth, the pain on her right arm was unbearable. Kumi was about to thrust her other arm at Ichigo, who was about to lash out with a kick, when a thin beam of light shot over Kumi's shoulder and blasted Mew Ichigo away.

'Don't hog everything, nyo! I AM the main character in this scene, nyo!' Dejiko cried out with a cocky smile, turning to her left to her right to find Mew Pudding coming up to her with inhuman speed. 'Don't mess with a FUTURE IDOL, NYO! EYEBEAM!' Dejiko fired full blast, her eyes lighting up and a great bolt of power shooting out from her face. Unfortunately, Mew Pudding ducked under the beam slid between Dejiko's legs and tripped the surprised 'future idol', before jumping on top of Dejiko and started punching at her face.

Utena was on the move, catching Zankuro's eyes on Sakura. The 'Prince' stepped between Zankuro and the startled Sakura and threw a punch. Zankuro stopped just inches of Utena's attack, side-stepping and attacking with her whip. The whip curled around Utena's arm and Zankuro pulled, forcing Utena to fall face-first on the floor. Smirking, Zankuro pulled some more, stretching Utena's arm from her body and causing her to scream. Zankuro dragged Utena on the floor, doing a short job before snapping her fist forward, pulling and sending Utena into the air and soaring towards a house with a small fence. Utena crashed heavily through the fence, splinters of wood flying everywhere.

'Aw, crap!' Naru soon faced Mew Mint and Mew Lettuce. Mint was throwing elegant kicks at Naru, who was barely blocking all of the attacks while Lettuce was throwing short jabs, hitting Naru continuously on her face and shoulders. The blonde saw a high kick coming from Mint, so Naru took a step-back to dodge it. As the kick sailed past, Naru was about ready to lunge forward and swing her fist at Mint's smirking face, only to find that Mint has attacked with her other leg. It was too late for Naru to dodge or block, The tip of Mint's toe connected sharply on Naru's lungs and she was sent staggering back, choking, right before Mew Lettuce blew Naru away with her 'Lettuce Rush'.

'This is bad! If I don't do something, we're going to be beaten up!' Everyone was moving way too fast for Sakura as she thought about the situation. Ichigo's team was indeed a formidable opponent. It was impossible for a newly formed group of strangers to team up against an experienced party. 'Utena's right! I may not know how to lend my power to others, but I have to try-!' Sakura was about to cast a spell, her spell circle of stars appearing beneath her when Ichigo appeared out of nowhere, angry and slightly charred from Dejiko's counter attack. Sakura stepped back to dodge Ichigo's kick and parried with her staff.

'Give it up. You don't have a chance.' Ichigo growled out, sending out multiple kicks at Sakura. The auburn haired girl returned Ichigo's glare of hatred with her glare of determination. Sakura pulled back, her hands stretching out before her and bend backwards, doing a back-flip to dodge one of Ichigo's attack, then to a one-handed cartwheel, then a short somersault, in which Sakura has casted her 'Fly' card and flew right into the air.

'There is ALWAYS a chance!' Sakura cried out, her magical circle flaring up beneath her as she raised her wand before her. The spell in her mind was already made up and there was no turning back. With a deep breath, Sakura begun her new chant! 'Magic of the Stars that is inside of me! I call upon thee to create a spell that will challenge eternity! Let my power be granted to others to protect our future! Lend your strength to my allies as you have done for me!'

'What the heck is she doing!' Ichigo was looking up, ready to fire her spell once more, but Sakura's spell circle has become to grow wider and bigger, the light illuminating from the translucent threads becoming brighter and stronger. Ichigo growled and fired her spell, hoping one of her attacks connects. 'Someone stop her!'

Sakura has begun to spun her wand before her, spinning it behind her to her other hand, she waved it in a figure eight before her and lifting it over her head, she finished her spell. 'By the contract that binds you to me, I, Sakura, command thee! RELEASE MY HEART!'

It has suddenly grown dark during Sakura's incantation. Naru and Utena were picking themselves up from the floor, and Kumi was still clutching her other arm of steel coils, and Dejiko was still pinned to the floor by Mew Pudding, but all of them were staring up as Sakura finished her new spell. A great flash of light blinded Ichigo and her crew, but that light did not harm Naru, Utena, Dejiko or Kumi. Rather, they felt refreshed. The light soon faded and night has become day once more. Sakura was still floating in the air, wand at the ready. Ichigo and her crew were still rubbing their eyes. Utena decided that was their opening. She picked up a broken piece of wood from the fence she crashed into and charged forward at Zankuro, screaming her battle cry. Unfortunately, Zankuro has recovered from the flash of light. Utena's opponent smirked and snapped her whip at Utena-

'SWORD!' Sakura's voice rang loud and true suddenly. Utena's piece of wood was suddenly enveloped by an aura of grey light, swirling and twisting before it became a sword of intricate beauty and valour. Zankuro's whip wrapped around Utena's wrist, but the pink haired girl smirked and thrust her sword forward, the blade cutting through the whip and slashing at Zankuro with sudden speed, Utena's opponent staggering back from the blow.

'What was that!' Ichigo screamed out in shock. 'Sakura can give her magic to other people now!'

'BLAST!' Sakura spun around and swung her wand towards Dejiko.

Pudding just finished rubbing her eyes when she noticed that Dejiko was still underneath her. Pudding raised a fist to punch Dejiko's swollen face one more time-

'You're dead, nyo.' Dejiko stated flatly. A sudden explosion of energy shot out of Dejiko's eyes. It was literally 'overkill', without the 'kill' part. The massive blast of energy shot right to the air and split the clouds, all that just to get the unconscious pudding off of Dejiko. 'H-Hah! That's… That's Digi Charat's special attack! Mega Optic Eyeblast, nyo!' Dejiko gasped out, forcing herself to sit up.

'POWER!'

'Pay back time!' Naru was already rushing at Mint and Lettuce as her whole body was enveloped with a pale blue glow. Lettuce fired off another one of her spells, and it connected solidly on Naru. As Lettuce and Mint waited for Naru to fall through, they were surprised to find Naru jumped out of the small dust cloud that was appeared. Naru gripped the yellow overcoat she wore, tattered and torn, and threw it at Lettuce, blinding her. Naru rushed to Lettuce and Mint's left, skidding to a stop before them. Now, she's wearing just a yellow turtleneck and plaid red skirt, Naru's necklace, a cross, glittering. In a half-crouch, and her fists clenched and pulled back, Naru grinned at her two opponents. 'That last kick really hurt, you know!' Mint lashed out with a kick , which Naru didn't even bother blocking. It connected solidly to her face, but the blonde did not shy from the attack,. Naru swung her fist forward, and it connected to Mint's face, and this send the opponent flying away. Lettuce has managed to tear off the overcoat over her head and was about to attack Naru when the blonde twirled around and let loose with a might side-kick. Lettuce was doubled over, tears in her eyes and screaming as the kick sent her also flying. But Naru wasn't done. The blonde spun around and threw her fist forward at Lettuce. 'NARU PUNCH!' A massive outpouring of willpower build up in Naru's fist was sent out in a form of an energy attack, and it swiftly flew in the air and hit Lettuce, sending her off flying even further down the road, skidding and bumping and rolling to a stop. 'You should learn to take punches before dealing some of your own.'

'DASH!'

The short-blonde girl was still grimacing, holding her right arm which has returned to normal. Ichigo turned to Kumi and was charging with a kick. Kumi, on the other hand, was already behind Ichigo, her rollerblades skidding across the pavement. Ichigo whirled around and attacked with a back-hand. Kumi has ducked under and dashed to Ichigo's behind once more. As Ichigo spun around once more, kicking at where Kumi was standing, only to find that she wasn't there, Ichigo took the initiative and kicked behind her. She believed Kumi would appear there, but Ichigo was wrong. The short-blonde haired girl was just a few feet behind Ichigo. She has not run around when Ichigo spun to her back. Eyes on Ichigo, Kumi charged forward and lashed out a kick with her heavy rollerblades. At that moment, Ichigo turned over her shoulder and the rollerblades connected to her face. Ichigo was tossed into the air, the build up of speed on the attack creating a devastating blow, and Mew Ichigo crashed in a heap on the pavement. Kumi sighed and sat down on the floor, gasping for air.

Utena was smiling. 'Hey! Sakura!' She raised her new sword at the auburn haired girl who was still airborne. 'Your magic is the best!'

'Digi Charat wished Sakura coulda done that sooner though, nyooo…' Dejiko pouted, patting her cat paws on her face. 'An idol's face is priceless, nyooo…'

'Oh, hush. You look better this way.' Kumi has managed to crawl over to where Dejiko was sitting, bringing her arm on her lap and grimacing. 'I never though I could move like that… it's like my whole body was light.'

'Tell me about it!' Naru strutted up to them, hands on her hips, grinning at the two girls. 'Did you see my punch and that kick? Totally awesome! I wish I could do that more often! And my 'Naru Punch'!' Naru was punching the air, making 'shh' noises. 'I could never bring that much energy in my whole life! Sakura's magic is the best!'

'Wait… YOU had a weapon like that all this time and you didn't use it?' Utena frowned, shouldering her new sword and frowning at Naru.

Naru only smiled, ashamed. 'Umm… Well, the enemies were magical girls… I didn't think that one attack would make a difference-'

'She forgot.' Kumi said flatly. This caused Utena and Dejiko to laugh while Naru stood there, blushing some more.

'This is great… I can do a different sort of magic now…' Sakura was smiling, hugging her wand. But what made her heart beat even faster is that she met these people, who knew nothing about her and each other, and helped her. She met new 'friends'. But with this thought, it reminded Sakura of Yukito and Kero. Sakura's smile then wilted. 'Oh no… that's right… I still need to find them.' Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. With her new friends, there was no doubt she would find her old friends. Sakura opened her eyes and begun her descent to the ground. 'That's right… daijoubu… everything will be all right…'

And at that moment, the tendrils of dark energy lashed out. Sakura wasn't able to notice them until several of the tendrils have latched around her arms and legs. Sakura screamed. She could feel her entire body being squeezed, not only of her strength but also of her magic. It was a nightmarish pain that made Sakura scream even more.

'SAKURA!' Utena, Naru, Dejiko and Kumi were already rushing towards her. Sakura looked at them, a hand reaching out for help. She clutched her Star Wand tightly with her other hand. She will never let it go, until she could find Yukito and Kero. Utena was busy hacking at the tendrils, Naru was punching and kicking, Kumi slashing at them with her steel coils and Dejiko blasting with her eyes, the four did not notice a lone woman standing behind them.

She had long, curly dark hair, ivory black, and it reached the floor as she took slow steps towards them. She wore a type of leather corset that covered her torso tightly, a thick black cross over her rather ample cleavage. The cape that was over her shoulder was long and heavy, as ivory dark as her hair, with two metal spikes sticking out from each of her shoulder. Her black leather knee-high boots with rather high heels, made soft clicking noises on the ground. Her snow-white skin, framed by her theme of black, looked soft to the touch. And in her hands was a long staff, just about twice the size of her height, which was of an average Japanese woman. On the head of that staff was a large spell circle that danced and weaved with power and magic. The woman's pale blue lips curled to a smile and she lifted her staff over her head.

The tendril around Sakura's arm tightened and the auburn haired girl screamed. Utena was crying out something, her attacks on the tendrils becoming vicious and desperate. Through the cries of her friends for her, Sakura screamed and screamed. The tendril around her arm that held her staff kept getting tighter and tighter until everyone heard a snap. Sakura's wand fell out of her hand and bounced on the hard, cold pavement.

'SAKURA!' Utena's sword suddenly vanished, becoming a piece of wood once more. Kumi, Dejiko and Naru also lost their abilities and all four girls were swatted away by the tendrils.

'How touching… ' The woman in black spoke, walking through the tendrils and picking up Sakura's Star Wand. 'And how sickening also.'

Utena has managed to sit up, groaning from the assault. Her eyes narrowed, glaring at the woman in black who raised a hand, the tendrils of dark energy lowering an unconscious Sakura to the floor before the woman. 'Who are you?' Utena growled, helping Naru to her feet and who was also glaring daggers at the woman in black.

'Who am I? Is that some way to talk to your future 'Queen'?' The woman in black gave a soft laugh. She had a voice of silk, like fine glass tinkling, yet it was cold and void. Utena and Naru wanted to cower, but seeing Sakura's arm hanging in such a weird angle gave them anger, which they used as courage. 'Well, I guess I should answer you. You did fought well against five very powerful mahou shoujo. Even with my power added, you managed to defeat them. Very impressive.' The woman looked down at Sakura. With a sudden gesture, she kicked Sakura on the back. Naru and Utena were about ready to rush when the woman lifted her long staff over Sakura and pointed it at the comatose girl's neck. 'And it was all thanks to her. To think someone else could do the same sort of 'Spell Channeling' as I can. No matter. There is one thing this little girl can't do.' She smiled, her face contorted to like a snake. 'And that is to TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY!' She tossed Sakura's staff aside and reached down, grabbing Sakura's face and lifting her up. 'BECAUSE I AM BLACK GAIA! SOON TO BE 'QUEEN OF ALL CREATION!' ALL MAHOU SHOUJO SHALL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME! I WILL ABSORB EVERY MAHOU SHOUJO AND TAKE THEIR POWERS! AND NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME! NO ONE!'

'NOW!'

Utena has charged and found herself face to face against Black Gaia. The woman in black has suddenly seemed taller to Utena, a great freak of darkness. But the 'Prince' did not falter. She thrust her piece of wood forward, and it dug deep into the woman's arm that held Sakura. The woman flinched and she dropped the auburn haired girl, who Utena dropped and was already running away. The wood, still stuck to her arm, was just absorbed into the body of Black Gaia. 'You think something like that will-' Gaia begun, but Naru and Dejiko faced her and both girls attacked.

'EYEBEAM!'

'NARU PUNCH!'

The energy plowed right into Black Gaia, but as the smoke faded, she was unharmed. Kumi has managed to grab Sakura's Star Wand and was skating off, catching up easily with the fleeing Utena, Naru and Dejiko. Black Gaia frowned, shaking her head. She was about to raise her staff and point it at Sakura's rescuers, the magic circle on it glowing hot white when Mew Ichigo clamped herself on Black Gaia's arm.

'I… won't… let you…' Mew Ichigo said weakly, her face a bloody mess.

'Hmm… The spell must have been removed. Oh well. No matter. You are of still use to me.' Black Gaia smiled and her hand reached out to Ichigo's face.