DISCLAIMERS:
All canon characters are (C) 1992 - whatever year it is Naoko Takeuchi and all other related parties. The Shadow senshi are (C) Wild Nature 2006. This is a fanfic based upon the anime version and all written work that this consists of is (C) 2006 Wild Nature.
It seems as if the world is becoming darker by the day. People fighting, being killed, mauled, hurt, and everything else thrown in between. What was once cherished, life is now becoming rapidly unbalanced, as if the line of good and evil - often already tentatively aligned - tipped hard into evil. And with the final Shadow discovered, they must band together or be sucked into the Void.
Episode Eighteen: Beginning of the Finale
"Achoo!" Eizou sat at in the waiting room, eyeing the exit with a wishful gaze.
"I knew you were going to get sick," Kakushi snorted, looking at a rather cute girl. "Think she'll talk to me?"
"I dom no," she sniffled tearfully. "I dom care, edder!"
"Edder?"
"Edder, edder!"
"Oh! Either, gotcha.." his foot began to tap absently. Each tap caused Eizou's eyes to blink painfully as she slowly gritted her teeth and her face darkened until she gave in.
"Will yob stob it!" She cried out. "Tab, tab, tab! So annoying!"
"I understood that part," Kakushi grinned.
"Go to bell," she growled, crossing her arms and hunching into herself.
"Ginbano Eizou?" A nurse called out.
They were led into a small, single windowed white room, the air clean with a hint of rubbing alcohol.
"The doctor will be in shortly," she bowed politely to Kakushi who smiled widely and bowed back.
"Why'd yob come?" Eizou sat on the lone chair as Kakushi rose an eyebrow.
"You need to get on the.. uh... bed thingie."
"I dom wanna."
"You sound like a whiny five year old... I mean moreso."
"Shub up," Eizou climbed onto the bed, the paper crinkling.
"I'm here cause our parents asked. Besides, I get to miss class."
"So do I!"
"Yes, but I'm not the sicky," he rolled his eyes at her tongue sticking out at him. "And you need an adult."
"You're an adult?!" She said sarcastically.
"Well, since we're alone," Kakushi scratched his nose. "Um... what's been happening?"
"Nothing new.." It took a moment before what he really wanted to know to sink in. "Oh.."
He eyed her carefully. "Yea, well, Apple's not talking, neither is Jaro and so, well, I'm your brother and I thought.." He spread out his hands, looking hopeful.
She stared at him and for a moment, the vision of killing Henshou to save him filled her mind. Her eyes welled up. "I can't... I dom wanna burdem you."
"It's not! I'm your big brother," he answered cheerfully. "Maybe I can help with.."
"NO!" Her hands, fisted, smacked against her hanging legs. "No! You'll get hurt."
He stilled. "But Eizou, I don't want you to get hurt either," he said finally, his voice quiet and even.
She looked at him with a sad gaze. "I don't have a choice."
He wanted to ask more, she could see that but the doctor thankfully entered and the appointment began.
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Pomona stood at the opening of the Hikawa shrine, her face blanked. She wore her hair in two long braids, her eyes dark as she just seem to wait for something.
"Excuse me?" A lean figured girl approached the other. Her bleached blonde hair was short and she had it spiked up and to the sides, her bangs pointing sharply down her eyebrows. Her magenta eyes were warm but calculating, taking in the figure of Pomona. "You look like you've just learned a terrible lesson," she quipped. "I get them all the time."
Pomona didn't look at her for a moment before she finally seemed to notice her. "What?"
"My name is Jinseino Haimutsu. I was answering the ad for the karate class.." She trailed off as Pomona pointedly ignored her. "I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Haimutsu snapped coldly. "How rude!"
She went around the girl as Haimutsu knocked on the door. "Excuse me?" She called out when no one responded. "I said HELLO!?" She glared at the door. "Forget it! I'll just take my business elsewhere."
She moved toward Pomona who was still in the same spot, her gaze blanked out yet again.
She stilled next to the girl before she carefully placed a hand on the other's shoulder. "For whatever you lost, remember it's not gone forever. But maybe you need to let go."
Pomona jerked away from Haimutsu. "What gives you the right to say that!"
"Foolish girl," Haimutsu bit out. "Take everything for a challenge, rip apart what was supposed to be sympathy. It's all right to have your heart on your sleeve but it's not fair that you make it all out to be everyone else's fault and not yours!"
"I wasn't doing that!" Pomona shouted. The two faced off before Pomona blinked rapidly. "Shadow.. Saturn?"
"Great! So you are a crackpot!" Haimutsu threw her hands up. "Forget it and go back to the loony bins!"
And she shrieked as Pomona performed a nosedive, knocking the two to the cement ground hard.
"What was that for!?" Haimutsu looked like she was ready to fight.
"Here!" She grabbed the other girl's hand and proceeded to drag her down the stairs.
"LET ME GO!" But no matter how she struggled, Pomona's grip was like steel and the two soon found themselves in front of Eizou's home.
"APPLE!" Pomona screamed at the top of her lungs. Haimutsu tried to pretend she didn't exist. "I SAID APPLE!"
The door opened with a creak as Jaro held the door open for the big dog.
"Oh my god.. " Haimutsu began to struggle in earnest. "Come on! Don't feed me to that thing!"
"How rude. I am not a cannibal.. err.. of humans," Apple sat down gracefully. Haimutsu froze the instant he opened his mouth and said the first word and now she stared, terrified.
"I'm dreaming.. First a nut crack and then a talking wolf!?"
"Well, I'm a dog-wolf hybrid," Apple corrected.
"Oh, excuse me, I meant.." She shook herself. "What the hell am I doing talking to a DOG!?"
"Dog-wolf hybrid."
"Excuse me, dog-wolf hybrid..." She trailed off. "I AM dreaming, right?" She asked hopefully.
And a second later, she was holding her nose as it bled.
"I'm sorry!" Apple was talking wildly. "I didn't think it would go flying out!"
The gem, at the moment, was on the ground, as Haimutsu glared at the animal. "My nobse," she griped as Pomona led her inside.
"I can't just enter!" Haimutsu protested. "Help! Kidnappers!"
"Oh shut up," Pomona pinched her.
"OUCH!"
"OUCH!" Pomona jumped several feet in the air as Haimutsu copied the girl.
She was led to the sink in the kitchen as Kakushi raised an eyebrow. "Eizou's sick..." He said as if that was why they were in the kitchen.
"She's bleeding," Jaro pointed unnecessarily.
"Yea... try not to get it on the floor," Kakushi resumed reading the paper.
"My god! Is everyone rude today?" Haimutsu's head was forced into water as Pomona attempted to clean it.
It took a few seconds before hands flailed in the air as Haimutsu pulled out. "Are you trying to drown me!"
"You can't drown from dripping water!" Pomona began.
"Augh! I knew I should've stayed in bed," Haimutsu touched her nose lightly. The bleeding had stopped and her face, while soaking wet, was cleaned of any droplets.
"Here you go," mumbled Apple as he dropped the necklace.
"Oh thank you, I thought I lost..." She stopped halfway in a bend. "That's not mine!"
"Oh, yes it is," Jaro said dryly. "It's for no one else."
She picked it up, out of pure curiosity. It was magenta and in a hexagon shape. The chain was beaded and delicately lined. She held it closer to her eye, peering through and saw the world in a pink hue. She heard a noise and turned to see Eizou standing there, her eyebrow raised and a foot tapping, a look of thought on her face.
"Oh!" Eizou snapped her fingers. "The last Shabow!"
"Shabow?" Kakushi piped up from behind the paper.
"Shabow!" She glared at him.
"Shadow?" Haimutsu eyed Pomona. "Oh boy, you're not a loony, are you?"
"Halfway right," Pomona shrugged, studying the other girl. "That's some hair you've got."
"It makes it easier for me to play baseball," Haimutsu began before she flushed. "Oh! Someone please tell me, what is going on here!?"
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Kaiki and Kakure were over at Kaiki's home. Her mother and sister had gone out to the store for around a hour so with time to kill, the two decided to mess with each other's hair.
"Your hair is awfully short," Kaiki was telling Kakure when they both froze. A feeling of something dangerous filled them as Kakure pulled out of the chair.
"Something's wrong.." Kaiki went to her small television and turned it on. She hurriedly flipped through the channels, nearly missing the station she wanted.
They watched it in silence before Kakure visibly shook herself. "I don't understand, what war is this? Who is it against?"
"It sounds like a lot of wars against everyone else.. and I've never seen the news this gruesome before!" Kaiki's hand was shaking as she turned it off. "It's like... like.."
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"The world is becoming unbalanced," Pomona stated clearly as Eizou and Haimutsu looked freaked. The strange sensation bypassed the others save for the three. "Void is causing battles that will become an all-out war if we don't do something."
Eizou's eyes closed briefly. "But we don't know where he is," she said finally.
"I think we need to regroup," Pomona answered.
"Uh... I'm just going to be going..." Haimutsu yelped as Pomona grasped her collar.
"Oh no you don't! We'll be needing you too!"
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The group instinctively joined at the Hikawa shrine.
"It's almost sad that this place doesn't get this many paying customers in groups like this," Rei sighed.
"What's the plans?" Ami asked Pomona.
Haimutsu was still trying to pull away before Eizou spoke. "You can leave if you want."
Pomona, in surprise, let Haimutsu's clothes go. "What?" She asked carefully.
Eizou looked to Haimutsu. "I don't want to purposely place you in danger.. In fact, you all can go! I'll handle this!" Eizou began. "It's better this way, I mean come on, this is like my fault and.."
She trailed off as the girls looked at her, their eyes just as sad as the next.
"That wouldn't be fair, Eizou," Kakure murmured. "None of this is your fault."
"A difficult lesson is going to happen but I wouldn't mind be the part of solving," Kaki added.
"Besides, I've never had so many friends like this," Nigori smiled happily. "I can't wait to go sledding with you guys again!"
"It's always nice to be with friends," Kaiki agreed.
"Oh, but we need to try skydiving!" Sora began.
"When did we get off track of making Eizou feel better?" Toki smirked.
"You guys.." Eizou sniffled before she began to sneeze.
"Oh right, she was sick," Apple said apologetically.
"You think?" Makoto smirked.
Haimutsu stood just behind the gathered group, feeling as if she was on the cusp of something life changing.
"Oh what the hell! I'm in for it! It sounds like you guys might need me or.. something.."
She jumped as the girls all cheered and pulled her into a group hug.
"Together we'll win!"
Poor Haimutsu struggled in vain before there was a sudden surge of wind, startling the group as they turned.
"Transform!" The animals cried out rather unnecessarily as everyone called out their phrases.
"Uh... Hello?" Haimutsu shook the gem. "How do I activate it?"
A beam of lightning struck near her feet, the gem flying in the air. The girl jumped neatly and caught it and went into a roll to land at the feet of Henshou. "Hi ya!" She said finally, looking up.
She blanched as he aimed a hand in her face. "Oh fuck..."
She barely missed the hit as she jumped up high. "Nepheline Shadowed Decay, Make Up!" Haimutsu body shone in magenta before she was revealed in her fuku.
She wore a black strand for a choker, at the center a magenta orb with two small yellow gems at each side. Her collar was entirely magenta and her bodice was different. She wore a magenta sleeveless and shoulder-less dress but the top half was covered in a partial black corset, a huge gape down the front of her body to the waist. It was tied together by black string, making four x's along her breasts and stomach area. Her waistband started at the beginning of one end of the black corset at the front with a magenta orb. It had two stripes, the top yellow and the bottom one white. It wrapped around her hips to the other side. The two magenta orbs were connected by three loose black strands.
Her brooch was a magenta crescent moon, each side adorned in two yellow gems and attached from side to the other were three loose black threads. She wore seemingly detachable black sleeves, that covered three fourths of her arm but cut off at the fingers. At the backs of her hands were a magenta round gem outlined in yellow. She had a back bow, much like shoelace ribbon, that was a set of two bows, one white and the other yellow. Her shoes were magenta sandals, strapped around the toes and over the arc, as well as around the ankles. she wore gold hoops just above her earlobes and attached to her earlobes were magenta teardrops with a single ring around the larger part of it.
"Heya.." She landed neatly as the group faced off against the man. "Who are you?"
"I am the Void.." The voice hissed out, the lips barely moving. His features were strained, frozen into a dead blank.
"His body.." Shadow Moon whimpered.
"I am the shadow of decay, Shadow Saturn!" Haimutsu exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. But her eyes slowly drooped. "Poor man... you're dying.."
Shadow Moon was quick on her feet, running toward him with a start that surprised the others.
"Eizou! What are you doing!?" Shadow Jupiter shouted.
She raised her hand as she shouted. "HENSHOU!"
His eyes flickered before he slashed out at her. She screamed as she was thrown back. She struggled to her feet, Shadows Uranus and Pluto helping her up. "I have to reach him," her voice came out thickly.
"That will be your greatest power for him. To be saved from the nothingness, there must be a link to break the shell. Love is a powerful weapon and a girl always knows what to do with it. That is why I cannot save him, only you."
"Together, we will," Shadow Mars told her.
"Why bother..." Pomona stood away from them, her eyes staring down. "All that we've done.. all that I've done, how is it worth anything?"
"Poor child.. broken hearted..." Void's whisper echoed over to her and Shadow Moon's eyes widened.
"Leave her alone!" She pushed the others away and made to attack. "Moonlight Casting!"
The attack that Void sent out to Pomona was temporarily blocked by Shadow Moon's attack as she jumped in front of the girl. But the attack was too weak against Void and she was swarmed in blackness.
"EIZOU!" Pomona's voice echoed as she screamed. "NO!"