Tenku might be sleeping inside of him, but Toma could feel Ryo getting closer by the moment. And if the connection was getting through, then the Bearer of Rekka had to be nearby. He felt a thrill of excitement course through his blood at the close proximity. Maybe getting to the others wouldn't be as difficult as he'd initially thought.
Beside him, Makoto Kino coughed a bit as she huffed along, and he felt a stab of concern move through him as he slowed their pace. She really wasn't looking good. Though she'd been in bright spirits when they'd started out, her skin looked downright…..grey now. He watched a shudder sweep through her body, and he stopped them, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Almost immediately, she leaned heavily against the wall, panting, and Touma cursed himself for his own oblivion. He'd pushed them too hard. He should have been paying better attention to her. He'd already had a good idea that she might be the stoic type.
"You ok?" he asked carefully. She groaned, putting her full weight against the structure for a moment before giving him a weak smile and flashing him a halfhearted thumbs up. He knew better than to take her at her word now. Touma crouched beside her where she hunched over, putting them at eye level. "Kino. Let me help you, ok? You were injured. It's all right to lean on me a bit, I promise," he coaxed, reaching out to take her hand and pulling her arm around his shoulders. He tugged, and she groaned as she moved with him. Touma grimaced when he realized she might be worse off than he'd originally thought. He wrapped another arm around her waist in support. "Kino?!" he murmured urgently.
Had there still been too many toxins in her system? He'd assumed she'd cleared them all out. Had all their movement aggravated her injuries too much? Maybe there was more internal trauma that he couldn't see? He hadn't found anything when he'd checked her, but he wasn't a doctor, and his rudimentary battlefield first aid skills could have easily missed something vital. Touma felt panic start to flare up. He'd been careless. He'd been far too careless. And Kino might have paid the price.
"Mm….ok. I'm ok." She murmured, making an effort to stand on her own two feet again. Touma frowned, at an impasse. She needed to lie down. She needed care. But Ryo was so close. So very close. With a bigger group, their odds of surviving improved. He had a feeling Ryo would have one of the senshi with him, and they might know how to help Kino.
Firming his jaw, he hoped she wouldn't think badly of him for taking liberties, and then reached down, sweeping her legs into his arms and adjusting her into as secure and supportive a hold as he could manage. She wasn't very heavy, but he could already tell he wouldn't be able to sustain the carry for long.
She let out a small gasp, wrapping her arms around his neck instinctually, and he tried to ignore the shock of warmth that flooded his system. She smelled like roses, and the surprisingly pleasant and feminine scent was a small comfort that eased something inside of him. The weight of her in his arms added to feeling, and for just a moment, he forgot where he was.
Touma shook himself abruptly. What the hell was the matter with him? He'd never been this dumb over women before, and this was not the time or the place to start. "Hashiba, you really don't have to carry me." Her voice sounded too soft to his ears, and it brought him back to the present and their somewhat urgent situation. Resolved, he started moving.
"This is better Kino. I want to get us somewhere with more protection, so you can rest. You really shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard right now," he replied, hustling through the hallways as quickly as he dared. His body picked up a good rhythm, and he felt his confidence buoy. He'd have them to Ryo in no time.
Almost as soon as he had the thought, something slammed into him from behind, throwing both he and his cargo through a wall. He managed to wrap himself around Makoto in an effort to save her from the brunt of the impact, but as soon as they landed with the first bounce, she flew from his arms, and went tumbling out of sight into the darkness of the room beyond.
Shit.
Enraged, Touma turned, intending to deal with their attacker as quickly as possible so he could get to her. He needed to punch something anyways, so this was kind of convenient. Touma lashed out, satisfied when his fist connected with something slightly squishy, and an angry roar bellowed from right in front of him. Whatever it was hit back, and Touma felt the sickening lurch of weightlessness surround him as he went sailing through the air. The weightlessness was quickly replaced by the sensation of losing most of the air in his lungs as he hit the floor and then bounced up, crashing into a wall.
He grunted with the impact, shaking the strike off and scrambling around for a foothold. He popped out of the track he'd made in the floor, landing beside it and dropping into a fighting stance. The monster in front of him was massive – its head nearly brushed the ceiling, and the ceilings were high. It was silhouetted in the dim lighting, backlit, so he couldn't make it out completely – but what he did see wasn't exactly giving him the warm fuzzies.
And then it moved forward on eight sharp and spindly legs, the skittering rhythm of its footsteps distinct even at this size. His logical brain was already making the identification even as the rest of him tried in vain to get it to stop. The face and torso of a beautiful woman appeared from the darkness.
And was followed by a giant spider abdomen supported by giant insect legs. Touma grimaced. Why did it have to be a giant spider? A giant, anatomically correct spider? Its torso was hairy. Its exoskeleton made the same noises that he imagined normal spiders made, only this spider was large enough for him to hear it move, and that was not helping him right now. The sound made his stomach turn and his hair stand on end. A sort of wet raspy sound combined with someone drumming their fingernails against wood in quick agitation.
The sight of it was almost enough to drown out the sound of it. Almost. Instead both sight and sound combined together in his mind into a monster he was sure was going to feature in his nightmares for a very long time once this was over.
As he watched, trying to anticipate the beast's next move, he could make out several smaller shapes hanging oddly around its abdomen. And then realized that the spider's body was liberally adorned with heads and body parts in varying states of decay, some human some…other, suspended like gory adornments from thick and sticky webbing that clung to the hairs on its body.
So. A giant hairy spider monster that liked to keep trophies of his victims. So many nightmares. There were going to be so many nightmares. Assuming he lived long enough to have them.
It rose up then, its legs propelling it into a position that towered above him until the woman's part of the monster bent down towards him, pushing itself near his face. It took everything he had to stand his ground and keep his face neutral when what he really wanted to do was back up and then maybe try to find Makoto and get them both to wherever this thing was not.
The face at least, was beautiful. In a haunting sort of way. Her features were perfectly symmetrical, her skin delicate and pale. Then those angelic features twisted themselves into a wicked grin, fangs peeking from between blood red lips as delicate brows arched over eyes so black they seemed bottomless. She rose up once more, towering again, and paced a leisurely arch to his left, massive legs making only the lightest tapping noises against the floor, which was somehow even creepier, making the sound of all the moving…decorations more obvious.
She huffed a laugh, tilting her head at him from the shadows near the ceiling. A hand tipped with nasty looking claws tapped a finger against the perfect bow of her lips as she considered him.
"A young man, full of life and energy. This will be a particular delight. How shall I kill you? You are quite handsome. Perhaps we can enjoy ourselves first? There is no need to make this difficult. I can give you a pleasant end," she purred, looking at him appreciatively. Touma nearly gagged.
There were a lot of things he wanted to do before he died, but he was positive that enduring a "pleasant death" with a spider woman monster was not on that list.
Also? Gross.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm gonna decline the invitation," he said in an even voice.
She scowled at him from on high, agitation marking her movements as irritation painted her face. "I don't understand why you would refuse me. Is a painful death so much more preferable than a time passed with me in pleasure?" she pouted, crossing her arms. She continued her arc as she spoke, and Touma pivoted with her movement, unwilling to give her his back but leery about turning circles with her. She was trying to disorient him and he wasn't about to give her an edge.
"I don't plan on dying today. And I would never just lay down and give up," he growled. Mentally, he tried to pinpoint her weaknesses. Was it her underbelly maybe? She seemed to maneuver in a way that kept it shielded – angled away from him or close to the floor. That was where he'd need to strike. With what though? He eyed her grim adornments again. A bone might work. He could snag it, break it, used the sharp point that resulted.
Plan formed, he waited, keeping her in his sights. She let out an aggravated huff.
"Samurai disgust me. You're all honorable until the last, aren't you? You're all a stubborn lot," she snapped, pulling her arms back and flexing her claws into a ready position. "Very well. The sound of your screaming is just as desirable to me. And I know how to make a man scream," she grinned savagely at him. And then those spindly legs launched her forward.
Touma was ready for her, and ducked around her attack, reaching out and snagging a long, thick bone from her hide, making a face as the webbing it hung from attached itself to his forearms and refused to come off.
He swung the bone with all his might at her as she passed, rewarded with an angry hiss and the sight of her massive body flinching from him, which gave him enough space to smash the bone against the wall. The wall gave instead of the bone, and Touma swore viciously under his breath, whirling just in time to take a strike to the chest. The piercing, grating sound of her claws grinding against his undergear made him wish he was deaf, and he grunted as he staggered back beneath the force, looking down to take in the damage.
Damn. She'd nearly gone right through the plating. He tried to summon Tenku again and wanted to put his fist through a wall when he came up empty handed. A feminine groan from the darkness of the room beyond dumped extra weight on his shoulders, and he turned, dread filing his guts as he tried to locate Makoto with his gaze. He couldn't see shit in there, and now he was deeply worried that she might be the victim of another monster while he was here playing with this giant spider woman.
The distraction had been a mistake.
Touma felt himself hit another wall before he even felt the force behind her strike, and it was his turn to groan as he wondered why the stupid walls were strong enough to take his weight at full force but not enough to shatter a damn bone.
He brought the bone up just in time to parry another hit from the monster in front of him and she growled, doubling back and pouring more energy into her next strike. Touma held her back, but barely, and tried to pull together a different strategy. Until a deceptively strong but thin cord of webbing wrapped itself around his throat and squeezed with a surprisingly firm grip, cutting off the majority of his air supply. Touma grabbed at it with one hand and pulled, only to come away with some of the webbing without loosening the actual pressure at his neck.
He scrabbled again, but to no avail. How much webbing did this woman have around nis neck?! He tugged hard, making a desperate bid for air, the twisted glee of her face the center of his vision as everything around her went grey and hazy.
He needed air. Desperately.
In the next moment, everything went a strange greenish-white, and he couldn't see anything. He thought at first he was going unconscious, but the spider woman shrieked, jolting him from his daze, and It took him a full half a minute to realize he could breathe again.
That was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was that the webbing around his throat was gone. The third thing he noticed was that his assailant wasn't looking at him anymore.
Touma was smart enough not to waste the chance. He snapped the bone over the metal plating on his knee, and while her back was turned, lunged beneath her massive bulk and rammed the bone shard directly up into the center of her underbelly. Hard.
And then booked it out from underneath her as fast as he could manage with oxygen starved muscles.
She let out a sound that was part scream and part roar, the walls and floors vibrating with the noise. Her jointed legs staggered clumsily, carrying her backwards before she collapsed, unwittingly driving Touma's makeshift weapon deeper into the wound and letting out another monstrous cry.
When the monster moved, he finally saw her – Makoto – leaning heavily against the door to the adjoining room, shoulders slumped, head hanging, hair obscuring her face. He stared at her, trying to figure out if she'd somehow—
The monster roared again, the ground trembling with the force of her gaining her legs, and he turned, cursing himself, just in time to change what might have been a fatal blow into one that merely stung as it glanced off his shoulder. The demon was clumsy now, staggering, the bone in her belly completely crimson. He braced, waiting for her to swing back towards him, only to realize that he wasn't her intended target.
Too late, he pivoted to take in Makoto, who was just….standing there as two tons of demonic spider bore down on her, fangs and claws bared. Touma bolted for her, hands up, trying to run like hell but feeling as if he was moving through a swamp.
He realized, in that moment, that there was nothing quite like the absolute helpless terror of understanding that something awful is about to happen to someone you care about, and not only will you not be able to save them, but your timing will give you a front row seat to their suffering.
Makoto twitched, snapping her head up just in time for him to see the horror slide across her face as the spider encased her in a full body cocoon of webbing with one shot. Touma looked down at the second half of the bone he held in his hand and then lunged forward as the spider woman's mouth was somehow stretching impossibly wide, her front legs and hands positioning the Makoto cocoon right in front of her face.
He aimed for her front, slamming his weapon splintered point first into the abdomen of the woman part instead of the spider part, hoping against hope that this would do something, weaken her, buy him time to free Makoto and get them out of range.
It dropped the cocoon, but he didn't have long to feel triumphant before the monster turned its attention back onto him, the woman screaming with her unsettlingly wide mouth and making a lunge toward him, face first, attempting to grab at him with her arms.
He hit the wall again, hard, her clawed hands around his throat while that terrifying maw got closer and closer, and at this distance, he could see the venom gleaming off her extended fangs. Of all the ways to go, he hadn't ever dreamed up giant spider monster in his worst nightmares. This was going to suck.
There was a wordless female yell, one that didn't come from the mouth in front of him, followed by another flash of brilliant light.
And then there simply wasn't a monster. It exploded into thick, greasy ash, spraying him with a cloud of dust and bone fragments. He sneezed several times, attempting to wipe the grime off his face and see what the hell had happened. Silence rang in his ears.
Touma blinked, trying to get his vision to clear. And then he blinked again to understand what he was seeing. He realized his hair was standing on end. Lightning – a rich emerald-green in color – flickered almost lazily around the room, crawling up walls, and across ceilings, and along the floors. He followed it to its source, and simply had to stare for a moment.
Makoto stood, knees locked, clearly held at angles that suggested she could barely keep herself upright. She was leaning one hand against the wall, panting, her other hand still out, fingers splayed and trembling. Her skin was ghost white. And the lightning was flickering around her, casting her in an otherworldly glow. Her eyes were luminous, but lit from within, their green electric. Her brow was furrowed in determination, mouth open and panting. The lightning stopped.
And Makoto collapsed.
He bolted across the space and was at her side in a moment, putting a gentle but urgent hand on her shoulder and giving her a light shake.
"Kino? Hey, Kino!" he called out. Her eyes flickered and she let out a small noise, then stared up at him blearily, as if she wasn't really seeing him.
"Oh….hey…Hashiba. I think I…killed the spider," she said weakly, speech slurred as if she might be drunk.
"You pulverized it," he said easily, trying to lighten both their spirits. "But let's not stick around and wait for her friends to join the party." In reality, he was trying not to panic. She'd been in bad shape before, but now? He was afraid for her. She looked terrible.
Touma felt determination ignite inside him and he scooped her up from where she'd fallen carefully, holding her against him as he took a moment to center himself back on Ryo.
"Hashiba." He turned at the sound of his name to look down into her face. Her brows were furrowed again. "Leave me here, ok? I can wait here. You can find help and come back. Don't let me….I'm not gonna hold you back," she whispered.
He stared at her, trying to figure out if she meant the words that were coming out of her mouth or if she was just rambling. She met his gaze, determination shining in her eyes, and he felt a pang hit him hard. Would it be easier to find someone without her? Yeah. It would. Logically, she made sense.
But the idea of just leaving her here in the dark? Alone? Abandoning her? That stung. It upset him more than he'd thought it would, and he didn't know if it was because she'd assumed he'd ever leave someone like her behind, or if his logic agreed that she was making sense.
Logic and emotion usually warred inside of him during battle because he often found that the reasonable thing to do – the best, most efficient course of action – went completely against the emotional bond he shared with the other Troopers and their allies. It might cost him his life. But his friends and allies always came before logic and reason.
He pushed past his emotions and his logic, putting them away for now, knowing it wasn't the time to dissect his own reactions. Touma re-aligned himself with Ryo's energy and bolted, still carrying her, into the hallways again. His wounds pulled, but he ignored them, even as he secretly hoped he could find Ryo without adding to them.
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that, because I'd never leave a friend behind," he huffed as he moved. Her eyes fluttered open as he glanced down to check on her, and a dreamy expression flitted across her face. He tried to ignore the way it wanted to grab at his heart and squeeze.
"S-sorry. You're just….so nice. I'd….I'd hate it if….you….got hurt…." She was fading, he realized with alarm. He picked up the pace, trying not to jostle her. She moaned softly, her brows furrowing more deeply, and he grit his teeth, trying to smooth his stride.
"Kino, hey! C'mon, hang in there. Stay with me. Please" he entreated. She didn't respond, and her head lolled against his shoulder. A shot of adrenaline skittered up his spine and he started to sprint, feeling a sense of urgency. What if she was dying? He felt a pulse of energy and the hallway in front of him was cast suddenly in a familiar blue glow he recognized as the kanji on his forehead.
His toes lifted from the floor. He made a desperate bid to reach Tenku but slammed into a wall of dark energy. Something or someone was keeping his armor from him. And as he felt the weight of Makoto sagging in his arms, Touma let his fury have reign. Whoever they were, they were going to get what was coming to them. He'd make sure of it.
Thankful he at least had access to Tenku's fleet-footedness, he half sprinted, half glided down the hall towards Ryo. He was nearly on top of the energy signal when he lost footing on what appeared to be a thick coating of ice encasing the entire hallway.
Touma slowed, sliding clumsily to a stop, but keeping his feet. The chill in the air penetrated his bones. He hesitated, certain the ice wasn't normal, but not certain if what had made it might be lying in wait just out of sight. To his surprise, Makoto stirred in his arms suddenly, opening her eyes, blinking and looking around.
In fact, in the soft glow of the ice surrounding them, her skin seemed to lose a bit of pallor.
"Mercury?" she breathed, her gaze falling on his face. He frowned, surveying their surroundings with caution again.
"Mercury?" he asked her.
She nodded against his arm. "It's …Mercury must be nearby. This ice...it's her. Put me down." Reluctantly, he obeyed, setting her feet down against the chilled surface. She sank to her knees slowly with his assistance, and he crouched beside her as her delicate fingers pressed with urgency against the ice.
Beneath and around them, the ice pulsed gently, and as he watched, when she lifted her fingers, a small pool of water lingered where her hands had rested. Makoto let out a weak, happy laugh, and then pressed both hands down. Without thinking, he put his hands down near hers, touching the ice. It felt….alive. But Pure. It felt calm and refreshing. It felt like being near Shin. Touma couldn't help but smile. When they lifted their hands, a small puddle had formed. Makoto cupped her hands in the water and brought it to her lips, drinking greedily.
She went back for more. Her face seemed rosier, more relaxed. Touma dropped his hands back down to the ice and pressed as she continued to drink. He watched, feeling awed, as she improved. She still looked haggard, weak, but maybe her skin was less grey now. His heart was pounding as he watched her. His chest felt full. His anxiety eased.
She finished another sip, and then turned, putting her hand on his. "Drink. You need water too." She urged. Touma hesitated as she went in for another helping. He wasn't sure how he felt about drinking water made from magical ice. Still. He was thirsty. And this might be all he got for who knew how long. She urged him again, and he gave in, cupping his hands into the melted water and bringing it to his lips.
It felt amazing sliding down his throat. Cool and relaxing, it brought a lingering sense of peace as it settled below his chest. It didn't heal his aches and pains, not exactly, but they felt somehow...less potent. He took a few more sips, feeling the darkness that had lingered at the edge of his energy, sapping his strength, fading bit by bit, and thought he understood.
The water wasn't healing them, but it was cleansing their energy – just a bit. And if Makoto's wound had wrought an infestation of toxic energy, then this was probably flushing some of that out of her system. He heard a sigh, and looked up.
Makoto smiled at him, tired but radiant. Her brows had eased, and she looked to be more comfortable. She rose carefully to her feet, and he shot to his, reaching hands out in case she needed support. But she stayed on her own feet, tired and triumphant. It wasn't a miracle. But it was better than where she'd been. "Feeling better?" he asked her softly.
She smiled and nodded shyly at him. "Yeah. Thanks for helping me. I wouldn't have made it here without you." Her cheeks colored prettily and she averted her gaze to stare at her toes. Touma didn't really care how forward it was. He reached out and grabbed both her hands in his, squeezing gently.
"You scared me. I'm glad you're ok. I'm confused though. I can't call my armor. You can't seem to call your uh….transformation. But you can use lightning, and I was able to float a bit on the way here."
Makoto shrugged, then frowned in concentration as she stared at her hand. Tiny licks of pale green lightning crawled along her fingers, coalescing into a tiny ball of light. Touma felt his hair rise a bit from his scalp again, and let half his mouth curve up in mild amusement.
"I don't know. I mean. I've never tried to actually use my powers when I'm not Jupiter. I guess…..Maybe they're just really a part of me now, even if they weren't when I first became a Senshi. But if I concentrate hard, I can feel them. Touch them. I just can't transform. But it takes a lot out of me to use them. Like…..Like when I'm Jupiter, they're just there, near the surface. But now, it's like I have to pull them – I have to work to get them through whatever barrier is holding Jupiter back."
The lightening vanished, and she looked up at him. "I'm just glad I was able to use them." She smiled, and Touma's heart mountaineered up into his throat and set up base camp as he stared down at her. To his utter mortification, he felt his cheeks heating, and tried to get his composure back. He cleared his throat, looking away for a moment. When he looked back, he felt more in control of his reflexes. Even if he did kind of want to just lean in and…kiss her right now.
Shit Hashiba. Get it together. She needs you to help her, not maul her.
He blinked. "Ah. Yeah. That was really awesome actually. Thanks for helping me out. I guess without my armor I'm kind of….useless." He frowned, feeling the dark mood embrace him again. A gentle touch on his shoulder brought him back. Makoto was looking up into his eyes with sincere understanding radiating from her own.
"Uh hey? Maybe I'm not remembering things clearly, but I definitely wasn't the one making weapons on the fly and diving heroically under a giant spider monster," she shuddered briefly and continued, "My policy was pretty much just hit anything in reach that wasn't you. Besides, I wouldn't have made it here without you. We'll figure out how to get you connected to your armor again, and then we're gonna find who did this and make them regret it."
He nodded feeling better. "Yeah, we are. Think you're up to a little more walking? Ryo's close by, and I bet your friend is with him." He held out an arm for her, pleased when she took it, leaning on him with a gentle pressure. Her touch filled him with warmth, and he tried not to think too hard about what it might mean.
He should not be getting attached to someone who'd likely be gone very soon.
Touma felt his mood go dark again.
