Here's another chapter already people. This one is important as hell though, you'll see why soon enough.
Let's go!
"Alright, looks like we're all here, save for Chalice, but he said he couldn't be here today." Kensuke said as he and the others sat around the table at his apartment.
The others all noticed how his apartment was really quite clean… and also spacious enough that a family could live there comfortably.
Though from what they heard Kensuke talk about his goals outside of hero business, that made sense.
"This is a pretty nice place you got to yourself," Shingo who was with them couldn't help but say.
"Let's just say with my family, we've got quite a bit stored away," Kensuke chuckled. "Besides, this is both for the future and for now, in case any other Tribe Members need a place to crash for a bit," he shrugged. "Anyway, let's get you up to speed now that you're in the know."
The group then gave him a quick explanation of what was going on, including the backstory and some important points they could think of. Suffice to say...Shingo had a LOT to digest.
"Wait, so, we're here because of some monsters fighting and then the one that represented humans won? And then there was this kingdom some time later and there was a princess on the moon and now you have to find her because she reincarnated? Is there any other crazy stuff?" Shingo asked "And I mean outside of the fact Luna can talk because that was already pretty weird."
Usagi hummed "Well… there's actual people behind the monsters and people feeling weak. Mika's been hit twice so far, and Naru's been hit quite a few times herself."
Shingo blinked at that "Right… I want to punch something honestly. Nobody hurts Mika." he muttered the last part, making the others smile knowingly.
"We also need to track down the Undead and help Kensuke and Chalice seal them back up before they can try to claim Earth for themselves." Ami added.
"Right, creepy unkillable monsters that need to be sealed in playing cards of all things… what next, actual aliens?" he sighed.
"Actually, Luna IS an alien, from the planet Mau." Kensuke said with a grin.
"And apparently the Sailor Scouts are reincarnations from the past as well, so this is mine, Ami and Usagi's second life." Rei added with a teasing grin.
Shingo blinked at that, before groaning into his hands. "Me and my big mouth."
"You'd be surprised how often people regret tempting fate," Luna said with an amused sweat drop. "At any rate, needless to say all this is supposed to be kept secret at least for now. If this news were to get leaked too soon, well...that would be very bad if not only the people panic, but our enemies might even employ more... drastic... tactics in response."
"Yeah... I can see how that would happen," Shingo sighed. He'd read enough comics to know how this goes. "So... what's the plan now?"
"For now, beyond Sealing Undead and stopping Youma, we'll focus on finding the Princess first," Luna sighed.
"About that... my parents told me they'd contacted the scholars, and archivists... and they think they've found a clue that might help us there," Kensuke spoke up.
"They do? What is it?" Ami asked, everyone giving him their attention.
"They sent what they found over. Its an old book so be careful," he said, before going over to the couch in the living room, pulling the covers aside...and revealing there was a safe hidden inside of the couch.
"Really? You have a safe in the couch?" Usagi asked.
"I have multiple safes in the apartment actually, in fact Rei is sitting on a secret folder compartment." Kensuke said as he carefully turned the dial, while Rei stood up and looked at her chair before lifting up the seat to see a small door with a number pad on it.
"What's in there?" the ravenette asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That one's just where I store my bank account stuff." Kensuke waved off any high expectations.
"Still pretty important if you ask me," Usagi blinked.
"True," Kensuke chuckled, before opening the safe and taking out an old looking book. "Here we are, some of the records we'd gathered together regarding the Silver Millenium," he said as he placed it on the table and carefully opened it. Turning the pages a bit, he eventually stopped at one section. "Here we are, Queen Serenity IV, the last queen of the Silver Millenium, Luna talked about her last time," he said. "No pictures available, but what we want is right here," he said pointing to a section of the text. "The Legendary Silver Crystal. In most kingdoms Crown Jewels are just symbols, but in this kingdom...that there was their most powerful magic item," Kensuke said, hiding his thoughts about the crystal, the very same that Tuxedo Kamen felt would give him answers as to who he was.
"What does this have to do with the princess?" Rei asked.
"Well... the Silver Crystal is apparently closely tied to the royal family, and each heir is bestowed with the Crystal when they come of age...and it just so happened if the records are right, the last Princess was of that age," he said.
"... I don't really get it," Shingo blinked.
"The Crystal is basically bonded in some limited sense to its owner. If we can't find the Princess, maybe we can find the Crystal. Find it, and it might just be a clue to finding the Princess," Kensuke explained dryly.
"Or even the Princess herself." Ami summed up "She might have it in her possession if she's aware of who she is."
"That too," Kensuke nodded. "The only problem is... the Crystal basically vanished after the Silver Millenium's fall according to these records and despite efforts of various people through the years, REMAINS missing. So for all I know it's been appearing throughout history in the guise of various mysterious gems, or its just plan been hidden somewhere or with someone who has somehow evaded all notice," he sighed. "So yeah... needle in an ocean sized haystack."
"That's... somewhat helpful I guess…" Luna sighed. "Now that I think about it though... I think something was done to keep the Crystal out of harm's way, but... I can't remember what it was…" she frowned, face scrunching up a little. "Though... seeing as the Crystal is tied to the Princess and she was sent to the future... it's likely as we think, the Crystal will either lead us to her, or will be in her possession."
"Well then I guess we've got another clue then," Usagi mused. "Hopefully Luna can remember whatever it is that was done to the Crystal."
"Maybe they did something like seal it behind a bunch of magic barriers, or maybe they broke it into several pieces. I mean, it IS magic, right?" Shingo said, using some video game logic.
"Well... it IS plausible... then again just about anything is plausible. For all we know someone decided to chuck it into the belly of some sleeping monster and we're gonna have to get it out of there... oh god I HOPE that's not what they did with it," Kensuke gulped at the end.
"Let's... worry about that another time," Ami suggested, to which they all nodded in agreement.
"At any rate, we'll have to keep our guard up. There's really not telling where and when the next attack might happen," Rei said, earning a few nods in agreement from the others.
Several days later and so far things had gone about more or less normally. That came to a stop during one particular day when Usagi was on her way home, and found a love letter in the mailbox addressed to her. "What's this?" she blinked, before turning the letter around... and blinking owlishly when the sender was apparently Tuxedo Kamen. "...what?"
"I don't think I need to explain why this is suspicious, right?" Luna said flatly.
"Randomly getting a letter from Tuxedo Kamen for no reason? Yeah, I can see that," Usagi sighed. "As much as I'd like to believe this, there's too many problems like HOW would he know to send it to me, and the wording... this sounds like one of those creepy letters you hear about…" she sighed. "...think this could be another plot?"
"If it is, then it's possibly a trap set to catch Sailor Moon or someone else among the Scouts," Luna frowned.
"Then we definitely need to warn the others in case they got one," Usagi said, quickly pulling out her communicator.
The next day…
"Wow… everybody got one huh?" Usagi asked as all her female classmates had received a letter.
"Yeah, it's a bit sad that it probably means it's a hoax of some kind." Naru said with a sad sigh "I almost wish it was real you know?"
"Let's just hope nobody takes this for real. We've had quite enough incidents as is," Usagi sighed. A point that was helped when Miss Haruna came in and told everyone that this kind of mail was either a prank or some kind of malicious trick, so they were not to listen to it... though the slightly annoyed expression she had clearly implied she was also salty because she didn't get one.
"Well, at least everyone is trying to help avoid incidents," Usagi chuckled.
"Hm...I'll need to stop by the location later," Naru frowned. "Mom needs me to do an errand."
"You sure it can't wait?" Usagi asked.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to go at an earlier time," Naru said.
"Just be careful," Usagi sighed.
It wasn't long before school ended, and the girls parted ways to go home. Along the way, Usagi decided to stop by the arcade today. As she walked in, she overheard Motoki talking with Mamoru about something while the latter was playing the crane game. "Did you hear about the mass love letters girls have been getting today? You'd think it was some desperate guy, but all of them are listed as being from someone called 'Tuxedo Kamen'," Motoki said.
"Tuxedo Kamen? If this isn't a painfully obvious scam, I don't know what is," Mamoru snorted. "And what's with that kind of a name? Sounds like a creep," he mused, not hearing Kensuke snort in the background as he was working on a cabinet nearby.
"I thought the same too especially after every girl in my class got the same letter," Usagi spoke up as she came towards them.
"Glad to know you didn't fall for it," Mamoru snorted. "Anyone who'd fall for something as obvious as this probably deserves whatever happens if they fell for it in the first place."
"You'd be surprised how dumb some people can be," Kensuke said. "Trust me, I've met a few of those types. It boggles the mind how they've survived for so long."
"Besides, if anyone is looking for a girl, they'd do better meeting them face to face. I think its the only way you can respect a lady," Mamoru said.
"Does that include me?" Usagi asked half jokingly.
"Depends, but I'd say yes," Mamoru said with a light chuckle.
A few hours later found Naru at the department store, shopping for a few things for her mother, sighing wistfully as she looked around 'It's too bad that letter is a hoax. I'd almost hoped it was real when I saw it yesterday. It would have been pretty romantic.' she thought sadly.
As she was walking through the store, she noticed a familiar figure. "Mr. Sanjoin?" she blinked, before realizing that yes it was him. "Mr. Sanjoin!" she called, getting his attention, the man turning to her in surprise. "It's me, we met when you were at the tennis match. I'm a member of Juban Junior High's Tennis Club, Naru Osaka."
"Ah, I remember now. Are you out shopping?" Masato said as he came closer.
"Yes," Naru nodded. "Um... would you mind if I asked a question?"
"Oh? What is it?" Masato asked.
"You... wouldn't happen to be Tuxedo Kamen, would you?" Naru asked.
Masato was visibly surprised at that. "What? Why do you ask?"
Naru blushed a bit. "Oh, its nothing. I was just wishing you were," she said. "Just something that crossed my mind."
Naru seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Sorry for asking you a weird question. Please forget it," she said.
"Naru," Masato spoke, seemingly interested in her now.
"Yes?"
"You're the cutest girl in Juban Junior High," Masato said, much to Naru's pleased surprise. "I've been interested in you for some time now. I'll meet you tonight," he said as he turned and left.
"Tonight? By tonight, does he mean…?" Naru gasped, taking out the letter she'd received. Looking through it she noticed some of the wording, eyes widening. "It IS him!" she gasped. Before she knew it, she was soon at the rooftop, looking at the sunset and holding the letter close, the image of his handsome face in her mind as she blushed brightly. There was no doubt in her mind that she was falling in love with Masato Sanjoin.
"It's almost time," Usagi mused. Earlier she'd contacted the others. Rei had come down with a cold and fever, so Ami was staying by her side for now. Kensuke said he'd stick around the location just in case anyone would fall for this trap. In short, they'd be on standby, with Kensuke ready to alert them in case he noticed anything.
"I hope for once nobody is caught up in this trap," Luna sighed.
"That makes several of us," Usagi sighed. However, right as she said that, the communicator started beeping before going silent. "Of course…" she sighed, getting up and opening the window. "Time for another night out. Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
She was soon out the window and roof hopping towards the location. "Honestly, the only good thing about them doing this at night, at least I don't have to worry about Mom and Dad coming into my room while I'm gone," Moon sighed... even though she had still locked her door just to be safe. She soon found Blade, standing on a nearby building, eyes trained on the location that had been set up.
"I told Chalice about this, and he said he should be able to make it, though he'd be running a bit late since he was on the other side of the ward." Blade said, earning a nod from her, glad to know another ally wouldn't be far behind.
"Who went in?" Moon asked.
"Believe it or not... I saw Naru in there," Blade frowned.
"That can't be right... Naru said she would avoid this place during this time," Moon gasped.
"Well something got her to reconsider, and looks like we'll have to stop whatever it is," Blade said, the two nodding and soon entering the building.
"Mr. Sanjoin? Where are you?" Naru called out as she searched the dark room, before the lights came down and a figure wearing a tuxedo and a mask was coming down the escalator.
"Welcome," the figure said, in a voice she'd recognize anywhere.
"That voice... so you ARE Mr. Masato Sanjoin!" Naru said excitedly.
The man actually gasped in surprise "You can tell who I am by my voice alone?"
"Of course! Your voice and the way you carry yourself... you are none other than Mr. Masato Sanjoin!"
"Do you really love Masato Sanjoin that much?" he asked, honestly shocked.
Shyly, the girl nodded "I thought it was just a crush at first, but, ever since you said those words to me earlier this afternoon, I've become sure, I love you!" she declared.
"That pleases me to hear," Masato said as he reached the bottom... and placed a finger on Naru's forehead, causing her eyes to suddenly go unfocused. "Now, reveal yourself to me, Sailor Moon!" he declared. Energy began to flow from her, yet she didn't transform. However, that was when he noticed the oddity. First of all, the amount was great, furthermore, he sensed SOMETHING in the energy, and most damning of all, the energy seemed to shift in color, turning pink momentarily before turning back to normal. "Is this girl not Sailor Moon?" he frowned. "But still... this energy…"
He didn't get far before he sensed a certain energy, and had to let go of the girl, causing her to crumple to the ground. Good thing too, as right when he jumped away, a familiar golden disk flew right through where he had been a moment ago and soon returned to its owner, revealing Sailor Moon and Kamen Rider Blade standing at the doorway.
"Ok faker, you just stepped on a minefield, hope you're ready for the explosion." Blade said as he held up his sword.
"Oh? And what do you plan to do?" Nephrite asked as his disguise vanished from him, no point in keeping it after all.
"Me? I'm just support, SHE'S the one you should worry about." Blade said as he gestured towards Sailor Moon, and Nephrite's eyebrows rose at how absolutely LIVID she looked.
"What is with you people and going after my friend?!" Moon growled, readying another Moon Tiara Action, which she threw, aiming right for his head, but instead of hitting… it went right through his head as he'd suddenly turned transparent.
"So this girl IS connected to you. Interesting," he mused. "Oh that reminds me. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nephrite, one of the Four Generals of the Dark Kingdom. Though this plan didn't work out the way I intended, it's still salvageable now that you're here," he said, before he split into several copies. "O Regulus, star of Leo, shining in the Southern Night Sky, grant me your power!" they all declared, before they soon positioned themselves in a formation and soon turned into stars that formed the constellation of Leo.
"Wonder what he's going to throw at us," Blade mused... right as the lights formed a lion which manifested before them. "...okay, that's honestly decently impressive."
The lion roared and charged at them... only to be met with a boot in the face, followed by a sword through the temple, causing it to vanish.
"After everything you've thrown at us, it's going to take a LOT more than a lion to scare us!" Moon growled.
"If that's the case, very well," Nephrite frowned, splitting and intoning again... something that suddenly made Moon regret her words, seeing as the constellation he'd just picked was... Draco.
"Oh boy…" Blade gulped as they were now face to face with a DRAGON.
And then said dragon roared and lunged right at them, with Blade dodging to the side, while Moon jumped back in fright.
The dragon tried to snap at them, but was stopped when something flew and hit it right in the eye, causing it to rear back in pain.
"Glad to see you made it." Blade sighed as he looked up to see Tuxedo Kamen on the railing of the second floor.
"I always go where I'm needed." he shot back with a smile.
"So cool!" Moon couldn't help but cheer.
"So, you finally show up." Nephrite chuckled "Too bad it won't actually change much."
"Moon Tiara Action!" Moon called out, hitting the dragon right in the forehead, pushing it back, but it was still in one piece. "I was REALLY hoping that would have done more," she gulped.
"Quick, into the elevator!" Tuxedo Kamen said urgently.
"You two get in! I'll hold it off!" Blade said, getting between them and the dragon.
Right as the two got in the elevator however, the dragon seemed to disappear, as the doors shut on their own, Nephrite laughing as he watched "Fools, you've fallen right into my trap."
"Strange choice for a trap, but dare I ask?" Moon frowned... right as the elevator started rising.
"It's very simple. When you reach the top floor, you'll be entrusted to the laws of gravity, and crash into the ground!" Nephrite laughed.
"We'd better get out of here BEFORE we actually reach the top then," Tuxedo Kamen frowned, before he quickly used his cane to break open the hatch on top of the elevator to allow them to climb out.
Back on the first floor however…
"Don't think I'll let you get away with this!" Blade said as he dashed at Nephrite to slash him, only for the general to move out of the way.
"You don't have any other choice but to accept it. Soon Sailor Moon will be dead, as will that Tuxedo Kamen." he smirked.
"Nah, they'll be fine. Jadeite tried to sick a plane on them and they were fine. I don't think an elevator is gonna work," Blade deadpanned. "Besides, I'm sure the elevator won't fall if I stick this through your chest!" he added, charging forward, but Nephrite was pretty fast, making it easier said than done.
"Don't think I'll fall as easily as that fool Jadeite!" Nephrite smirked.
"You sure about that?" Blade smirked... right before Nephrite felt something shoot him in the back, causing him to gasp and stumble forward, right into the way of Blade's armored fist, which socked him right in the face.
(Play Take it a Try)
"Thanks for keeping his attention." Chalice said as he held his weapon up.
"Well you got here just in time." Blade shot back with a smirk.
Nephrite groaned as he righted himself in the air, hand on his jaw where he had been punched, a wound on his back which he could feel was already healing "I don't have time to waste on you two. I have more important things to do." he said "Now!" he shouted, confusing the two riders, before they felt something speed past them and slash at them, producing sparks on their armors, while Nephrite took the chance to escape.
"What just…?" Blade groaned as he looked around, before spotting what hit them. A being covered in yellow fur with several black spots, leather pants on his legs and steel armor on his chest, a large set of claws on his left hand with a feline face that was snarling at them "Mach Jaguar, Category 9… Hope you're ready Chalice." Blade said seriously.
"I beat Category 10 with some help already… but this one should be just as challenging yes." Chalice said with a frown behind his mask as he held his weapon at the ready.
The Jaguar Undead growled, and dashed towards them, its movements a blur, but they barely managed to avoid the attack. Chalice moved and tried to shoot it down, but the faster movements were not making it easy. At the same time it went after Blade who barely managed to defend against it.
"We're not gonna make much progress if we fight to its pace," Blade growled.
"We'll have to finish this fast. Think you can get it into position for a bit of a double hit?" Chalice suggested.
"Point me where and I know what to do," Blade smirked.
"I'll need to borrow a Punch attribute card. You have one, right?" Chalice said, to which Blade tossed him Screw Mole without argument. "I'll send it flying, you get it while its vulnerable," Chalice said, before tossing Blade the Time Scarab card.
The Jaguar soon charged towards them again, but this time they were ready. "Screw! Tornado!" Chalice's Rouzer intoned as the cards were scanned, the wind gathering around his arm. "Twister Fist!" Chalice called out, punching forward, sending a blast of wind which caught the Undead and sent it spinning back, but as it was in Mid-air, Blade readied his own cards and scanned them.
"Slash! Thunder! Time!"
"Thunder Moment!" Blade called out as he seemingly vanished from view, time slowing as he dashed forward and slashed at the Undead in a single Iaido strike, sheathing his sword immediately after that single strike, and then time resumed.
The Jaguar Undead gasped as blood flew from its sudden wounds, before it fell over and a small explosion happened, leaving it on the ground, belt cracked open. "Back in the card you go," Blade said, tossing a Proper Blank and sealing Mach Jaguar away. At the same time he noticed Time Scarab glowing blue. "Guess you're finally interested in sticking with me then, huh?" he said with wry amusement.
(Theme end)
"Well that's that," Chalice sighed. "And once again, they run away while their lackeys do all the work."
"Forget about him for now. We sealed Mach Jaguar and that means we have a shot at Reflect Moth." Blade said as he picked up Naru in his arms "Come on, let's get to the top floor, maybe Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen are alright."
With that the two made their way up the building (through the stairs because the power was out again), and soon reached the roof. There on the roof they found Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon weren't there. At that both Riders looked at each other. "You don't think…?" Chalice gulped.
"I think we'd better hurry," Blade nodded, before quickly putting Naru down nearby, and getting to the Elevator Shaft. Quickly prying the door open, they were just in time to see Tuxedo Kamen look like he was about to lose his grip, same with Moon, both of them clearly struggling to climb up the shaft, to which Chalice and Blade managed to grab onto both of them, pulling them up. "That was...too close," Blade sighed.
"You have NO idea." Moon panted as she was lying on the roof. "I felt like my heart was trying to jump out of my chest way too many times."
Though she couldn't see it, she certainly felt the knowing look being thrown her way by Blade.
"Well, all's well ends well I guess," Chalice shrugged. "...though we should probably get the girl to a hospital."
"What I'm more worried about is why she was here in the first place? Didn't she say she wouldn't be here? What caused her to change her mind even after all the things going on lately?" Blade frowned.
"Something you'll all get a chance to ask her after she wakes up," Tuxedo Kamen said... having gotten onto a nearby railing while they were talking. "Until next time, farewell!" he declared and soon jumped off of the roof and vanished again.
"Always a theatrical exit with him," Blade couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.
"I still think its cool," Moon couldn't help but say with a laugh.
An hour or so later had Kensuke and Usagi manage to rush Naru to the hospital, the doctors assuring them everything would be okay as sadly by now they'd had...plenty of experience dealing with these cases. With the assurance... and the fact it was getting late, the two soon went home, leaving the hospital. The doctors did the usual checkup, and examination, sending the results to the labs... and to an additional location.
"Another case happened, and right under our noses again. This can't continue!" a voice said with a growl.
"The problem is to begin with we're unable to find these monsters, and even if we do, there's no guarantee we'll be able to deal with them," another voice said.
"Then there's no doubt about it. We need to focus on the new project immediately!" a third voice said.
"The samples we've been able to obtain from the remains found in the airport have already been analyzed, and the designs are being drawn out. We'll need to get more data to properly formulate the power required, I believe our best bet is to base the design off of the… Kamen Riders, as some of these Vigilantes seem to call themselves," another voice, this one female, said.
They couldn't let those monsters run rampant any longer.
A month passed after that incident. During the time a couple more incidents had taken place.
One of those incidents had been rather… strange, since there wasn't a single trace of the Dark Kingdom, all that had happened was that they encountered a rather powerful psychic girl while on a training trip to a nearby beach.
The second incident had led them to fight what had apparently been Nephrite's strongest Youma, twin monsters called Castor and Pollux, whom had been possessing a pencil used by an anime artist for the new Sailor V anime… which Kensuke had been sure was rights infringement. As for the Youma… they were powerful yes… but their teamwork was almost non existent, which led to their destruction after combining Mercury's Shabon Spray, Mars' Fire Soul, his Thunder, and Chalice's Tornado into Moon's Tiara.
All in all it was an eventful month, and while it probably wouldn't mean much, he hoped that with them beating Nephrite's 'strongest' follower, he'd lay off for a bit...or they'd end up moving on to the next General. Seriously, it was in the name, there were 4 of them and Nephrite was number 2, next would be number 3. Either way, it was the waiting game again for now. Not to mention they had...other things to worry about...namely the fact that while they STILL hadn't found Reflect Moth, it had clearly been… busy…
Usagi was running as for once she was cutting it a bit close (she'd had one of those annoying dreams that made her think she was awake when in reality she was still asleep), though fortunately she had enough time to make it if she hurried. As she did though, she noticed that traffic was rather heavy today, and as she went further, she saw why. "A Checkpoint? Is something important happening?" she blinked.
As she stopped to take a look, she noticed Naru walking by, looking a bit down. "Naru? Is something wrong?"
"Oh, Usagi…" Naru sighed, but continued walking. "Its... nothing," she said.
Usagi frowned, but chose not to press on the issue. "So... guess there must be something important going on, huh?" she said, hoping to change the subject a bit.
Naru looked up at the road, nodding "Yeah… the Diamond Kingdom is visiting Japan and apparently throwing some big gala. Their princess is going to show off some sort of big priceless jewel."
Usagi blinked at that "Wow… where's the Diamond Kingdom though?" she asked after a moment with an embarassed laugh.
Naru looked at her and her lips twitched upwards a bit "Somewhere down in South Africa apparently. Mom got an invitation to go see the gala, but she's sick so she's having me go in her place so I can get a picture of the jewel."
"You're so lucky Naru. I wish I could go." Usagi sighed at that, picturing herself going to a ball and dancing… with Tuxedo Kamen of course.
"I'll tell you about it after I get back," Naru said with a weak smile as they continued on to school.
"Hey, did you hear? They're unveiling the legendary treasure of the Diamond Kingdom at the gala," Umino said.
"Legendary treasure? Wow, I bet its that jewel Naru told me about," Usagi said.
"That makes sense, the Diamond Kingdom is the world's biggest producer of diamonds," Umino nodded.
"Aww... now I really want to go," Usagi sighed.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped. They don't let just anyone in," Umino chuckled lightly.
Class went by normally, but after school, Luna gave her a call asking her to meet up at the Hikawa Shrine. "Guess Luna must have found something," Usagi mused as she went towards the shrine. When she arrived, she saw that Ami and Rei were already there, and slightly more surprising was Shingo, whom she found out later had run into Luna along the way and chosen to come along.
"Ah good, you're here," Luna nodded. "Kensuke said he'd be a bit late, since he needs to take care of something, but he said we could start sooner," she said.
"So... what did you find?" Usagi asked.
"I think I might have found a possible lead on the Princess," Luna said.
"What is it?" Ami asked seriously.
"I think that she MAY be the Princess of the Diamond Kingdom. And whatever the mysterious treasure is could be some sort of relic of our kingdom." Luna said seriously.
"Naru actually told me the treasure was some kind of jewel, she's going there to get some pictures for her mom." Usagi added.
"Dad said he got invited thanks to the journal he works for, they want some pictures of the place apparently, and an interview with the princess if possible." Shingo added, remembering his father mentioning that this morning before he left for work, though he soon frowned. "But... you sure she might be the Princess? I mean... isn't hiding a reborn Princess behind a real Princess kinda... redundant and obvious?"
"Well... maybe that's the entire point?" Luna mused. "Because it's too obvious people would overlook it?"
Before anyone could agree or refute that though…
"I HIGHLY doubt its Princess Dia," came Kensuke's voice as he came up. "If it were, we'd have known about it ages ago."
"How can you be so sure?" Rei blinked.
"Because... simply put, there is no way our Clan WOULDN'T have noticed one of our own being the reborn Princess of the Moon," Kensuke sighed. "After all... the Diamond Kingdom? That's the public face of the Red Pheasant Tribe."
They all stared at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws, and Kensuke wished he had a camera for the half poleaxed and half bemused look on Luna's face.
"W-wait a second, public name? Do the other tribes do this?" Rei asked after a moment of getting over her shock.
"Of course we do. We can't exactly advertise ourselves for what we really are," Kensuke shrugged.
"Then... does that mean every Tribe is tied to a government or leadership of some kind?" Ami blinked.
"Well... yeah, in a sense. Nothing to the point of controlling any major countries, but enough so we can get information, even sensitive stuff easily enough," Kensuke admitted.
"What about Japan then?" Usagi couldn't help but ask.
"Ah... that... that would be…" Kensuke trailed off as he muttered something.
"Sorry, we didn't quite catch that."
"...the Imperial House," Kensuke said, now more audible.
At this point, it looked like their eyes were on the verge of popping out of their sockets "W-wait… does that mean you're related to the EMPEROR?!" Shingo asked in shock.
Kensuke sighed "Yeah, Emperor Heisei is a distant relative of mine."
"What about the other two Tribes?" Usagi couldn't help but ask.
"Fortunately those two aren't as big relatively speaking. The Black Tortoise works with the German government, and no, they were not among those who approved of or supported THAT. As for the White Tiger... they're more tied to the government rather than say having members in the presidency. THAT much is still very much democracy," Kensuke mused.
The others were certainly relieved those last two weren't bombshells, letting out sighs at that.
"Anyway, we should probably go check out the party anyway, just to make sure everything goes off correctly. Who knows what the Dark Kingdom might pull after all?" he said with a sigh.
"How will we do that though? It's likely invitation only." Luna frowned.
In response, Kensuke held up… a formal invitation to the party, marked with the seal of the Diamond Kingdom, shaped like a pheasant in a diamond shape. "There are certain perks of being part of the Clan," he couldn't help but say with an amused chuckle.
"You got invited?" Rei asked in slight surprise.
"Yeahp, and I have a 'plus how many I want' with it. Basically I bring on as many people as I want with me." he said with a shrug, grinning a bit.
"Well... that makes it easier," Luna blinked.
Night soon came, the girls all ready in their respective dresses, all of them having used the Disguise Pen to make them something more fitting for the occasion. Usagi's own dress was white and had several roses attached to it, a parasol in hand, and some makeup on her face, which actually gave her a slightly more mature look. Ami was dressed in a similar dress, but colored blue, with several snowflakes acting as decorations on it, complete with some makeup to help finish the look of an intelligent mature woman. Rei was also dressed in a similar dress, colored red with several rubies attached to it, her hair done up in a bun on top of the makeup applied to her face. All in all the three of them looked ready for the Gala... just as soon as Kensuke arrived with the invitation.
It wasn't long before he arrived, dressed in a Tuxedo for the night, with the special addition being a brooch he'd pinned on the tuxedo which depicted a blue spade with a beetle inside, his 'identification' for those in the know. "Sorry I'm late. Had to make sure everything was in order," he said as he walked up to them.
"No problem. We weren't here for long," Rei waved off.
"Right… do any of you have Luna with you or…?" he asked, looking at the girls with a raised eyebrow.
Usagi lifted her dress up just a few inches, letting him see Luna poke her head out before darting back underneath, making him chuckle.
"Smart. Anybody who would even TRY to look under there would get thrown out faster than a dog at a butcher." he said, before he went towards the entrance, the girls sticking close to him.
"Invitations?" the man checking the names asked as they reached the table set up, with Kensuke flashing the brooch on his tuxedo, the man's eyes widening a moment, before he nodded "Please go on in sir. I trust these young ladies are with you?"
"Yes, their friends of mine." he said with a nod, the man accepting that as he let them all pass.
Though, had they waited, they might have noticed the couple arriving shortly after them, the young man sporting a black brooch shaped like a heart, with a mantis inside of it, the girl holding his arm sporting blonde hair and wearing an orange dress.
The group entered the gala, and while it was an exclusive event, it was quite crowded. "It's incredible how even in invitation only settings things can get really full," Kensuke mused, noting that for some reason a lot of guests were wearing masks. "...I don't remember masks being part of the dress code," he frowned, double checking just to make sure, and true enough, no mention of masks.
"Maybe someone mixed up the invitation details?" Ami blinked.
"They made quite a mix up with how many are wearing masks," Rei said dryly.
"Well... I guess it doesn't really cause us any real issues," Usagi blinked. "So... is there anything special you need to do? I'm guessing they didn't just invite you to have fun."
"Yes, there's a reason I'm wearing the brooch. It's a bit of ID to let me into more… restricted… areas. I wouldn't be surprised if Chalice is here as well, and considering the Diamond Kingdom, Garren might be here as well. Not sure about Leangle though," Kensuke mused.
"So… what should we do?" Rei asked after a moment.
"Try and mingle I guess. I need to see if I can find the other Riders." Kensuke said, earning nods from the girls as they went off in different directions.
Kensuke scanned the crowd, seeing that half of it was dancing to the ambient music by the small band, and the rest were simply talking.
Silently walking around the edge of the crowd, he tried to spot any of the other brooches on the clothes of the people present, not seeing anything for the first few minutes… Until he looked down a bit and saw someone.
A brown haired man with white eyes, though they clearly worked fine, sitting in an electric wheelchair, one of his legs in a cast… and a white clover shaped brooch on his tuxedo, a spider inside of it. "I see I was not the only one to receive and accept an invitation," the man said with a light chuckle. "Care to walk alongside me? I don't think this is the best place for us to talk about anything particularly important."
"I don't mind. I'd rather not talk in a crowd anyway, especially when there might be unwanted ears from the past around," Kensuke nodded, earning a nod of understanding from the man, who was apparently Leangle judging by the brooch. Still... this was slightly worrying, seeing as he was in no condition to walk... let alone fight Undead. "Speaking of which, Kensuke Inazuma," he said, holding out a hand as he walked alongside the chair.
"Silva Nix," Silva said, shaking his hand.
"Well this is a surprise." a third voice cunt in, making them look up to see a young man with dark hair and black eyes, glasses on his face, the frame having a heart built into it on the side… and a black heart shaped brooch was on his tuxedo, a mantis inside of it.
"Chalice." Kensuke said in surprise.
Chalice tutted "Not in public, the name's Kelch Zyklon. Nice to meet you face to face." he said, properly introducing himself.
"Likewise, the name's Kensuke Inazuma," Kensuke nodded.
"Wish I could share the sentiment, but in my case I've only met both of you the first time. The name's Silva Nix," Silva introduced himself again.
Kelch nodded, before looking around "Garren isn't going to come out and force us to introduce ourselves AGAIN, is he?" he asked jokingly.
At that the other two did in fact look around as well, and after a few moments… "Guess not. Still... considering who's hosting the party, I'd imagine he'd be around here somewhere," Silva mused.
Rei sighed as she avoided another, in her opinion, rather annoying man.
God it was like all those damn suitors her damnable father kept sending her way.
That man thought he knew what was right for her, and tried to plan out of her life for her.
Thank god her mother had put her foot down before she passed away.
It was thanks to her that she lived with her maternal grandfather, and, pervert the old man may be, he at least didn't try to dictate her life, and he actually cared about her.
Though that wasn't to say her father gave up, oh no, he kept on trying to use her like a pawn on a chessboard, trying many times to marry her off to the young heir of another company so he could gain control of it.
It made her sick to know she was related to that… bastard.
So really, can you blame her when she had trouble trusting men? Kensuke had at least proven himself by being a selfless hero, so she could accept that he had no ulterior motives of hanging around with them.
So deep in thought she was that she didn't realize she'd wandered away from the crowd... and was going into a notably empty area. She would have kept walking... if not for a sudden hand on her shoulder. "Miss? I'm sorry, but this is a restricted area. Please return to the Gala area," a new voice said.
Rei jumped in surprise, turning around to see a young man with tan skin, black hair that reached his neck, red eyes, an earring on his left ear that was shaped like a diamond (not the actual gem, but the playing card one) and a red brooch on his outfit, in the same shape as his earring with a stag beetle inside of it.
Rei for her part stopped short when she saw the last bit, as unlike most of the guests here, she knew what that kind of brooch meant. This man was one of the Riders, the one representing the Crimson Pheasant Tribe at that. However, she quickly recomposed herself. "Ah... I apologize. I was lost in thought," she said quickly.
"Must have been quite a bit to think about," the man frowned. "Just be careful not to do so again here. You wouldn't want security to escort you out, no offense. You'd be surprised how many people 'accidentally' try to wander into restricted areas," he said.
"Right…" Rei said slowly, before making a show of looking at his brooch "You know… one of my friends has something like that."
The young man rose an eyebrow at that, looking down at his brooch for a moment "I see…" he said, before sighing "If you see him first, tell your friend I would help, but number 10 of my suit did some damage to the system. I'm benched until it's repaired."
Rei winced at that, figuring the 10 of Diamonds must have been a rather powerful Undead then "Right, I'll let him know."
"In the meantime I've got a few things to take care of. Suffice to say there'll be something of a meeting to discuss recent events later, though its VIPs only. Private matters and all that," he said before walking off.
Rei looked at his retreating back for a bit, before she headed back to the area of the party, a bit of worry on her mind as she made sure to remember asking Kensuke which Undead represented the 10 of Diamonds. Hopefully, they could prepare to face it.
Ami felt... really out of place. If she were to be honest, these kinds of settings were never really her thing. It didn't help they were really only here to investigate, so that made things feel more awkward for her. As she was willing to keep to herself for the rest of the evening, something caught her attention.
"What are you doing all here by yourself?" came a new voice, causing her to turn to the source. Seeing a girl with long blonde hair and a red ribbon in it, wearing an orange dress that had white shoulders and long white gloves on her hands "Aren't you going to enjoy yourself?"
"Ah... well…" Ami started. "To be honest, I'm just here accompanying some friends. I... can't say I care much for this type of setting…"
"That's a shame," the girl frowned. "You're already here so you might as well enjoy it. I'm here with my boyfriend, but he's busy at the moment, so I'm just enjoying the atmosphere, and the food is pretty good, though be careful around the drinks. Pretty sure some of it is alcohol," she said.
"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," Ami couldn't help but smile a bit. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Ami Mizuno. It's nice to meet you."
"Minako Aino. Likewise," Minako said with a friendly smile.
Usagi sighed. So far the party wasn't going quite the way she'd hoped. To begin with she'd gotten a drink spilled on her dress (thankfully not on the side Luna was on, or the surprised yelp the cat would probably let out would have made things worse), so now she'd had to wash it off quickly, but now she was alone, standing at the edge of the ball. She would be lying if she said she didn't come to the ball with some romantic hopes, hopes that got stronger when she couldn't help but think of how this felt like something out of a western romance. But as it seemed to be many times, reality wasn't as nice as a fantasy. However, right as that thought crossed her mind…
"Would you care to dance?" a familiar voice said, to which she looked up and saw a man who looked just like Tuxedo Kamen, albeit missing the cape and tophat.
She was rather surprised, but delighted and soon the two were dancing together. However as they did, she couldn't help but feel like she'd danced with him before, long ago... though she knew that couldn't be right seeing as this was the first dance she'd been to... unless she'd met this man before in her past life.
While this was happening, Kensuke and the other Riders had, while discussing a few things, been ushered by a few of the people working for the Diamond Kingdom to a room that had clearly been set up just for them...complete with four chairs surrounding a discussion desk, each with the symbol of their respective Tribes on them. "Makes you feel like a real VIP," Kelch couldn't help but chuckle as they took their respective seats (Silva's seat was moved aside so his wheelchair could be moved into position.)
"Though it seems Garren is running late," Silva mused.
"He's probably part of security or something," Kensuke shrugged.
"Makes sense, guess we'll just chill here until he comes. Hope he doesn't take TOO long though," Kelch frowned.
"Promised a girl a dance?" Silva said with a light chuckle.
"As a matter of fact yes, I did." Kelch said with a grin.
"Oh right, you mentioned you had a girlfriend a lot." Kensuke said in remembrance.
Before any further conversation could take place, the door opened again, letting in the young man that Rei had met earlier "Good, I see we're all here." he said, though he was unable to hide his surprise as he looked at Silva.
"This is going to be part of the discussion yes, let's just get the formalities out of the way first." the man sighed as he sat straight while Kensuke and Kelch stood to introduce themselves.
"Kensuke Inazuma of the Azure Dragons. Blade," Kensuke said.
"Kelch Zyklon of the Black Tortoises. Chalice," Kelch said.
Silva paused for a moment before sighing. "Silva Nix of the White Tigers. Formerly Leangle," he said.
"I had a feeling it was something like that…" the man with the diamond brooch sighed. "Munt Vuur of the Crimson Pheasants. Garren, though my role is on hold until the system is repaired."
"Hold on, the Garren System is actually damaged? What happened?" Kensuke asked in worry.
"I fought Thief Chameleon. It copied my form and managed to beat me in hand to hand since I barely had any cards to help me, hell, the only other Undead I'd managed to beat at the time was Fire Fly." Munt sighed. "So when it got a chance, it actually damaged my belt, and we're doing our best to repair it quickly. I'm gonna make that thing a priority target once I have my powers back though, I can guarantee you that."
"I can't say I blame you." Kelch said with a frown, before looking to Silva "And? What about you? Why are you the FORMER Leangle?"
Silva sighed "An accident before I could actually set out to hunt down the Undead. I got in a car crash and my leg was pretty much shattered. It'll take a long time to heal, TOO long in fact. So instead, my little brother is being trained as we speak to become the second Leangle. He's only 13… I wish he didn't have to do this, but Change Spider wouldn't settle for anybody else but him since I was unavailable."
"Well that sucks…" Kensuke frowned, not really liking the idea of having to send a kid into the meat grinder so to speak.
"Well, enough about that. There's another reason I came here," Silva said, before taking out what looked like a half finished blocky object.
"This is?" Munt asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Its a power up for the Rider System. As you all know, while we do borrow the power of an Ace, but even that is heavily filtered. As such there are certain limitations to the Rider System. With these new systems, the Rouze Absorbers, we'll be able to draw power from the Royal Class Undeads," Silva explained.
"Impressive," Kelch whistled. "That'd really give us an edge over some of the stronger ones."
"What's the catch though?" Kensuke frowned.
"You need a Category Queen to activate them," Silva said simply.
"That's a big catch," Munt frowned.
"It's a better alternative than letting the Riders experiment with the Royal cards when they gain them… some people think that if Chalice uses Evolution Paradoxa in his Rouzer… he might become… HIM." Silva said darkly.
Kelch's eyes widened and he stood ramrod straight, color draining from his face, while the two other riders looked fearful "Well… I'm glad I haven't used THAT function of the Rouzer yet." he said in a small voice.
"Good. Keep it that way. We don't want to risk losing you and having another one of that kind running around." Silva said with a grimace. "For now though the system is still incomplete. Once it has been completed... and hopefully tested, expect a special delivery."
"That's something to look forward to," Kensuke nodded. "Now, speaking of which, I've got a bit of an update on the situation regarding the Dark Kingdom."
"Let's hear it then," Munt nodded.
"Well to begin with while this is a bit old news, one of the four Generals of the Dark Kingdom has been... dealt with... and its likely the second one is on his last legs so to speak, seeing as just recently we defeated what he claimed to be his strongest Youma," Kensuke nodded.
"We're not actually sure if he's going to try anything else or if the next one is going to be the third General, but we're keeping our guards up either way," Kelch said.
"Not just that, another reason I came here is because the Maoian that was sent here to guide the Sailor Scouts thought that Princess Dia might be the reincarnated Princess Serenity, though I think we can all agree that's ridiculous," Kensuke said, to which they all chuckled, agreeing how unlikely it was that the Moon Princess was right under their noses. "Though she also thought perhaps the treasure might be the Silver Crystal... any chances that might be accurate?"
"None sadly," Munt said. "We may not be very good mages, but even we would be able to tell if THE Silver Crystal had ended up in our possession."
"I thought as much," Kensuke nodded.
The four would have discussed more... if not for a sudden beeping coming from Munt's tuxedo to which he pulled out a small device. "The silent alarm?" he frowned, before his eyes widened. "There's an intruder inside Dia's room!" he gasped when he realized which alarm had been triggered.
"That's bad! Meeting adjourned, we need to deal with the intruder first!" Kelch said, earning a nod from all of them.
The group arrived quickly at the room where the Princess was staying for now, and when they opened the door… they were met with a strange sight. "What the…?! What's Naru doing in here?!" Kensuke blinked.
"And where's the intruder?" Kelch added as true enough, other than the unconscious Naru, Princess Dia was the only person in the room, holding the box that held the Treasure.
"Dia, is everything okay?!" Munt asked in alarm.
Dia turned around... and they could tell something was very wrong with her. "The Treasure is mine!" she laughed and ran out of the room, pushing past them.
"I'm going to take a guess and say Nephrite had a hand in this one," Kensuke said dryly.
"We'd better stop her before she does something she'll regret," Kelch agreed.
"I'd help but…" Silva sighed, looking at his wheelchair. "Not chase ready right now…"
"Oh and point me to where this Nephrite is if you see him," Munt said, his voice calm, but he was fingering something. "After that get out of the way while I fill him with lead."
Kensuke looked at him for a long moment, before looking back at the fleeing princess… "Ah, family. Now I get it." he said with a sage nod "I'd probably do the same if someone attacked Usagi like that."
They chased after Dia who'd ran into the ballroom area, and ended up going towards one of the balconies, looking ready to toss the box off of the balcony... to Nephrite who was waiting below.
However, before she could, Usagi ran up to her and stopped her, but in the struggle, she nearly fell off the balcony... had it not been for Tuxedo Kamen grabbing hold of her before she fell.
"Everybody's unconscious." Kensuke noted as all the guests were passed out, likely from a bit of power from whatever was attacking them.
"That's perfect then." Kelch said as he brought out his buckle before putting it to his waist, holding up the Change Mantis card, while Kensuke took out his own buckle and inserted Change Beetle into it, strapping it to his waist as usual, before they spoke in unison.
"Henshin."
"Turn Up."
As the blue screen passed over Kensuke, Kelch scanned the Change Mantis card through his own buckle.
"Change."
A black ripple went over his body at that, before it faded away, leaving him in Chalice's armor, the Chalice Arrow in hand.
The two were immediately at Tuxedo Kamen's side and with a pull, the three got Usagi back up on the balcony. "That was… too close for comfort," Blade sighed.
"Yeah... I don't want to do that again," Usagi sighed.
"Damn you all, you're always getting in the way!" Nephrite growled.
"You fossils could save us the trouble and quit while you still got heads!" Chalice shouted back.
"Oh no, he's not going to be keeping his for long," Munt said, stepping up next to them, before pulling out what he had hidden, revealing to be a large red gun with a green plate on the side that had a silver diamond inside of it, a golden line going down the barrel. "I'm gonna turn him into glue!" Munt roared, aiming the weapon and opening fire at Nephrite.
Nephrite let out a dismissive snort, and raised his hand, making a simple barrier, expecting to stop the bullets cold... only instead several broke through the shield, and hit him, much to his surprise, but the shots were weakened enough from hitting the shield that they didn't cause any serious damage. "What?!" he gasped.
"This thing was made to pierce some VERY tough hide. Thinking its a normal gun is going to be a mistake you won't live to regret!" Munt said.
"Well, he's got the right idea," Blade shrugged before he and Chalice jumped down the balcony. "Wait right there so we can rearrange your face!"
"This is bad," Nephrite growled, before quickly jumping out of the way of another volley of shots.
"You're not getting away!" came more familiar voices, as during the fight, Usagi, Rei, and Ami had transformed and were now joining the fight.
"Shabon Spray!" Mercury called out, casting a blanket of fog that made escape harder for him.
"This ends here!" Moon declared as she and Mars were preparing to launch their attacks... when something else decided to enter the fray, heralded by a storm of yellow pollen-like particles which rained down into the fog... and caused damage to anyone hit while dispersing the fog.
"How fortunate," Nephrite smirked before vanishing, leaving the group to deal with the Undead.
"I know this guy isn't working with the Dark Kingdom, but he always seems to pop in when their around." Mars groaned.
"Yeah, but tonight is the last time he does." Blade said.
"Time to see how he handles high speed techniques." Chalice grinned knowingly under his mask.
"Let's not be too hasty. We have one shot at this, better make it count," Blade said, earning a nod from Chalice.
"Leave getting him into position to me. You just wait for the right opening," Chalice said, readying his weapon, and getting some distance from Blade before firing arrow after arrow at the Undead. The Moth immediately set up its defenses, causing the arrows to fly back, but with the way Chalice was moving, the reflected shots didn't hit him.
"We'll help too!" Moon started, the three of them looking ready to help... until another issue presented itself. Namely Princess Dia suddenly standing up again and this time shrouded in a dark aura which manifested into a well... shadow that had a twisted version of Nephrite's face.
"Seriously? Now?" Mars groaned. As if the Undead wasn't enough to deal with.
"Let's take care of it quickly." Mercury said
"Allow me to help. This thing overstepped its boundaries when it possessed my sister." Munt said with a growl.
"Wait, she's your sister?" Moon couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Yes yes, we don't look alike. That's because we needed a way for her to have a private life. Also her makeup is cracking thanks to all the crazy this thing is putting her through," Munt said dryly like he'd heard that a hundred times, and true enough, they noticed a few bits on the Princess's face that looked a bit cracked.
The shadow seemed to have enough of letting them talk, and let loose a burst of energy that threatened to push them back, but Munt quickly aimed his gun and fired, the special bullets causing the shadow to recoil a bit, and in that timing, Mars managed to attach a charm to Dia, causing the shadow to freeze up a bit.
"Get it now!" the two of them shouted, Moon nodding, grabbing her tiara.
"Moon Tiara Action!" she called out, throwing her tiara which hit the shadow, causing it to shout in pain as it faded away.
Back with the Riders, Chalice had figured out that the Moth's main specialty was reflecting direct attacks. Indirect though...gave it problems, such as the small tornado that whipped up a sandstorm around it courtesy of the Tornado Card. The Moth growled angrily before using its wings to finally stop the winds, and momentarily causing its barrier to flare up and soon fade...which was the opening Blade was waiting for.
"Slash! Thunder! Mach!"
"Lightning Step!" Blade called out, absorbing the three cards, and charging forward so fast the Moth barely registered as it was cut by the attack, electricity filling its body, before it fell over and exploded, the smoke clearing to reveal its belt had cracked open.
"About damn time!" Chalice growled, pulling out a Proper Blank and sealing the Undead in its card. "And stay in there."
"Undead down, and the Princess is... she's okay, right?" Blade asked.
"She's fine, she should wake up soon," Munt nodded... right as Dia did just that... her glasses falling off to reveal that she was actually quite beautiful without them.
"Huh? What happened?" she blinked.
"Easy there sis, let's just say you've had a very… eventful... night," Munt sighed.
"Well, glad everything's fixed for tonight." Chalice sighed.
"Well, the Princess needs to reapply her makeup I think." Moon said with a small laugh, pointing at the flaking makeup on Princess Dia's face, which underneath they could see tan skin just a bit darker than Munt's own.
"I'm… really confused." the Princess blinked as she was helped up by her brother.
"Don't worry about it sis, come on, let's get you cleaned up." her brother said with a kind smile as he walked back inside with her.
Several minutes later, everyone was back inside and the guests had all woken back up.
"It's good that nobody was hurt." Silva said with a relieved sigh.
"Tell me about it, tonight was pretty hectic." Kensuke added.
"At least we finally got Moth sealed up. We don't have to worry about people ending up like that anymore." Rei said, though she looked a bit glum as she thought about the people who DID die like that.
"We won't let it happen again Rei, we'll just kick up our training to be more prepared next time." Ami told her with a reassuring smile.
"We'll keep in touch. There are still some Undead that haven't reached Japan, but we'll be sure to inform you if any we're aware of find their way here," Munt said, as he and Silva still had to return to their respective Tribes for now.
"Much appreciated. I look forward to working with you in the future," Kensuke nodded.
"Speaking of work, where did Kelch get off to?" Silva mused.
"The Gala is still on for a couple more hours and the monsters are gone... I think you'll probably find him in the ballroom," Kensuke snorted.
"Ah, right. I almost forgot." Silva chuckled.
As they were talking, Dia had come onto a small stage set up in the room and revealed the priceless treasure of her home, a large diamond in the shape of a pheasant.
"Nicely sculpted. That thing must be worth a fortune." Kensuke commented.
"It is yes. People have tried to steal it or buy it off us many times. They always go back home crying." Munt smirked.
"Hey… has anybody seen Usagi?" Rei asked after a moment, making everyone blink as they realised that no, they HADN'T seen her for several minutes.
Though if they looked outside, they might have seen her finally receiving her first kiss.
And there!
Yeah, lots of reveals this chapter.
You already know the story is going to be big when it's over, but this helps you know relatively how big we're talking.
Also, yeah, some episodes WILL get skipped over when barely anything happens in it.
Anyway, with that done, here's something we've been forgetting these last few chapters:
Rouze Card Count:
Blade:
Spade: Ace, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Club: 3
Chalice:
Heart: Ace, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8
Diamond: 2
Garren:
Diamond: Ace, 6
