Eternal.Angel
September 1, 2007 to September 3, 2007

Disclaimers: I do not own any part whatsoever of Prince of Tennis, and some magical terms are Angie Sage's, so I do not own those words either.
Summary: Sleeping over at Fuji's house could be one of the worst choices that the Seigaku Tennis Club Regulars and Freshmen have ever made in their entire lives! Being sucked into a video game that was just being played with, the regulars and freshmen must find a way out by saving the entire world! But…how? Enjoy! And don't forget to review please!

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Escapade Seven: The Corruptive Crone
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In a blink of an eye, the Seigaku regulars were immediately bewildered at the sight they currently envisioned. Surrounding them was nothing…but a dark, pitch-black atmosphere, where there was nothing bright to see at all. It was as if they were in a black hole. All of them stirred awake and rubbed their eyes in sync, looking around to see black, black, and more black.

"Where are we?" croaked Momo, his voice nervous.

"I have no idea," answered Taka as he scratched his head, while the other hand held on to the flying broom. All their brooms were still flying in midair.

"Kaidoh-senpai! Osakada-san!" cried two worried voices, Kachiro and Katsuo. The rest of them turned their heads toward the pair of freshmen and widened their eyes. Kaidoh was knocked unconscious as he slept on his broom, gaining a steady balance with the grip on the flying machine. On the other hand, Tomoka was also knocked unconscious; however, she was floating in midair with her back arched, her broom floating next to her while the prize claimed from its stand, the Claws of a Cazkloo, was still in her possession but began fusing with her hand. Her eyes had no life in them, for they were clouded with Darknesse.

"Something's wrong with Osakada-chan," said Fuji as his smile faded away, replaced with a serious facial appearance.

"Yes, there is," agreed Inui as his Notebook continued writing with the Quill, "But there's no time for that."

"Nya, why's that Inui?" questioned the acrobatic player, Eiji.

"Someone's coming," said Echizen with a bored and serious tone. Everyone stared at him, puzzled, when a red beam of light shot out.

"Nya! It's a laser beam!" cried the red head as he directed his broom upwards, and the beam missed him by inches. However, it grazed against Oishi, nearly knocking him off balance.

"Oishi!"

"I'm fine," wearily replied the Male Spellcaster, for he was still exhausted from healing Yuuta. Blood trickled down his left arm, and keeping steady, Oishi gripped his arm tightly and gritted his teeth, sweating profusely.

"I'll protect you Oishi!" declared Eiji as he flew next to his doubles partner, a serious expression on his face. Laughter erupted from the shadows, and Eiji only narrowed his brows in fury.

"Protect? You must be kidding me," cackled the womanly voice, and she emerged from the Darke Shadows. A young female appeared, cloaked in black and wearing a black, tight dress which showed her smooth curves. The sleeves of her dress were webby like cobwebs, while her shoes had a snaky effect to it. Her hair was twisted into small braids, and they hung just above her shoulders. Purple eye shadow was placed on as well as red, glossy lipstick. Her skin was pale as if snow, but her eyes were dark with Darknesse.

"Who are you?" questioned Fuji as his azure eyes were revealed, and his claws struck out of his right hand. Everyone proceeded and prepared to attack the newly arrived enemy. However, she was so calm and confident that she could only laugh again, her hand covering her mouth.

"I am the Corruptive Crone, Cecile," introduced the woman, "And I was the one who took over the Wicked Woodlands, possessed your dear friend Kaoru, and cast a curse against that wimpy girl. Such pathetic people you are, although Kaoru was quite the man…" She whistled after her last sentence, raising a brow in amusement.

"Damn you…" muttered Momo under his breath, clenching his fist. The Corruptive Crone continued laughing, and at one sudden second she stopped and narrowed her eyes. She brought out her right hand and pointed it towards someone, her long nails pricking through the air. Warping behind her was a Darke portal, and out came many monsters from the Darke Shadows. She smiled evilly and mouthed the command.

"Attack."

All at the same time, the Darke monster plunged forwards, aiming to kill all that stood in their way. Every one of the students with power remaining flew against them and began to destroy all the Darke monsters.

Eiji violently dug through his suit and revealed a bunch of trickster objects. All items did random things to the enemy, from scaring them out of their wits to Disapparating them. Momo furiously swung his hammer midair, shooing away the monsters. Taka had done the same as the second year, except his weapon was his upgraded knife. Inui, on the other hand, read spells from his trusty Notebook, and immediately the effective spells cast dispersed and destroyed the Darke. Fuji had performed a new technique learned, named Higuma Otoshi; when a group of monsters would come attack as one, he would use that recently learned technique to claw and slash all. Echizen acted pro and "expertly" slashed all of the monsters in his way. The trio of freshmen tried their best to protect Osakada and their senpai, warding off the enemy. Cecile, however, laughed in amusement as she leisurely floated in midair.

"Keep on fighting, you pathetic fools, for you will never claim success against the Darkenesse!" she howled maniacally as she snapped her fingers. Another swarm of Darke monsters emerged from the portal, tormenting the Seigaku students once more.

"Damn it!" cried Momo as he yet furiously swung his hammer, "How many are there of these monsters?"

Inui spoke as he operated another spell, which worked automatically and long enough for him to speak a brief explanation, "We must destroy the source, which is the portal. While some of us take care of the monsters, two of us go to the portal: one who does the killing and another who does back up."

"Great idea, but I'm taking care of Oishi and my underclassmen, nya!" agreed Eiji as he pulled out a small jack-in-the-box and sprung it against several monsters.

"It'd be best if something against Lite Magyk would destroy the portal," reported Inui as he waved his hand naturally, and a few sparks shot out of his fingers. "If anything else, its power might not as effective."

"But Osakada-san and Oishi-senpai are worn out!" cried the two freshmen, overhearing the conversation.

"AH! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" screamed Horio as he slammed his hands onto the side of his head as if sandwiching it.

"Shut up," muttered Echizen under his breath as he killed three of the monsters at the same time.

"Inui, you go!" blurted Fuji as he clawed another group, "You're a Wizard so it should be good enough!

"But I can't," explained the Ordinary Wizard as he pushed up his glasses and craned his neck to view his calculations, "Because I am an Ordinary Wizard, it would be a…"

"JUST GO!"

"I'll volunteer to come then," said Fuji as he directed his brooms towards Inui's direction. "Saa, then let's get this over with quickly, Inui."

"I suppose so," agreed the Data Man as he pointed his Acer in the direction of the Corruptive Crone. The duo began flying towards the large, black hole when another batch of monsters spewed out, disturbing the plan.

"Fuji! You'll be backup for me while I try to go ahead!"

"Right, Inui!"

And so they proceeded with the plan. Inui, memorizing all the spells his knew from his Notebook (he didn't take it out because he was afraid that it would be lost in the swarm of monsters), recited them to himself and cast them on the enemy. Fuji, trailing behind him, urged himself to grow claws on his left hand while the right did all the work; it was tiring him greatly, and Inui had to get to the portal fast.

"Inui, hurry!"

Under Fuji's words, Inui sped as quick as the Acer would take him. He closed his eyes (behind his glasses) and mumbled a phrase under his breath and shot out his hand, his arm straight, pointing at the portal. A great ray of light fired from his two fingers, aiming at the large whirlpool. The light began to fight with darkness as the two different sides collided into one. A great big wave was created as the Lite and Darke as one side tried to conquer over the other. Once again, Inui chanted the same spell, and another wave of Lite shot out from his fingers and added to the current surge. At last, with repetitiveness of the same spell, Inui and with his powers, had finally destroyed the portal to bits. All the monsters that came out of it slowly Disapparated from the world and into another.

"Damn it!" fumed the Corruptive Crone as she stomped her foot in midair. She sighed in exasperation and placed a hand on her forehead, rubbing her temple. Her eyes snapped open in anger, and with her other free hand, she slowly raised it and murmured yet another curse.

"Darke Illusions."

Soon as she had mouthed the last word, swirls of Darknesse formed around the regulars and freshmen. Pools of black water surrounded them, and soon it turned into small waves, lapping around the ankles and wrists of the males. A strong bond was tied around their body parts, restricting them from moving any further.

"What are these things, nya?!" cried Eiji as he struggled to break free.

"They HURT!" yelled Horio at the top of his lungs, emphasizing the last word.

"Mada mada dane," mumbled Echizen.

"Is there really any time for that?!" Momo shouted at Ryoma, frustrated.

"Hmph," snorted Ryoma as he tipped his white Fila cap downwards.

"There's no time to be arguing Momo, Echizen," said Taka, who was tired and used up all his burning power.

Cecile watched in amusement as the regulars and freshmen tried breaking free from the chains of Darknesse. "Struggle all you want, but it won't work. After my work here is done, I shall eliminate and trap you all into this world which I have created." She laughed and cackled evilly, and snapped her fingers. The chains shot out towards the unconscious Tomoka and dragged her towards the enemy.

"Osakada-san!" cried Kachiro and Katsuo in a worried tone.

"All I wanted was the prize so I could increase my powers," explained Cecile in a calm voice. "After that, I would have demolished the Wicked Woodlands by now. But thanks to you jerks, my plan had to be slightly altered. However, either way, I will claim the prize as my own possession and destruct this pathetic area."

Fuji's eyes widened, revealing his blue, diamond eyes. "You're selfish."

"Am I?" mocked the woman, laughing again, "Well, I'm so sorry then! Idiot…now, let's get those Claws of mine…" She cracked her knuckles lightly before playing with her fingers as she neared Tomoka's inactive body, "Now, where are you? Ah, found them…" She reached towards the hand, but was repelled by a barrier. "What's going on? How is it that I am unable to retrieve it?!"

Suddenly, Tomoka's body drooped upwards, and her body slowly rolled up till she stood straight. Her eyes were still clouded, but the Darknesse within them were gone. Raising her hand, a bright glow shone from it.

"Release."

And a great light of ray was released, breaking apart the chains that held together the regulars and freshmen. After that, she dropped and began falling to the bottom of nowhere. Quickly, Taka dove down and captured the fainted girl in his arms. "I got her!" he yelled from below, showing thumbs up. Fuji nodded in acknowledgement and reported the news to the rest of the group. Soon, they formed a gang and advanced towards the Corruptive Crone.

"What are you all doing?!" she stammered, frantically waving her hands in front of her, "I didn't mean no harm or anything…"

"You have already done more than enough damage," said Echizen with a hard voice, and he flew ahead of the group, unaware of the calls behind.

"Echizen! Are you crazy! We're going as a group!"

"Echizen, it's dangerous – come back!"

However, Ryoma did not pay attention to his upperclassmen. He drew out his sheathed sword with his left hand and directed it towards the Crone. She continued to breathe heavily as she began panicking.

T'is the day I go

T'is the day I die

T'is the day for you to know

That t'is the day I will fly

Itaque tuus primus amor nunquam cupetur.

Echizen gave a mighty sword slash against the Corruptive Crone, and she screamed, piercing the walls that entrapped them. She began fading into nothing with the air, and the regulars watched in awe at the attack of the freshman.

"You seem to be…like him…"

Echizen snapped out of his trance, shaking his head. Like who? he thought to himself as he watched Cecile disappear from the Wicked Woodlands, with all evil coming to an end.

"W-e t-h-a-n-k y-o-u f-o-r s-a-v-i-n-g u-s f-r-o-m t-h-e C-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-v-e C-r-o-n-e…" mumbled the Ghost into the phone, and the other Ghosts did the jazz hands as an applaud. Every one of the students bowed, except Tomoka, who was still unconscious. Kaidoh had awakened and stood to watch over her, since he had nothing but mischief, he said himself.

"Oh, a reward of 1,000 coins for the each of us! Yes!" cried Momo happily as he threw a fist in the air. Eiji joined him, and the two began dancing around on stage.

"Thank you," bowed Oishi to the ghost gratefully, before turning back to the group. "I feel much better everyone. Thank you."

"Nya, it was no problem Oishi!" yelled Eiji in happiness as he hugged his doubles partner tightly.

"Time for us to go home," said Fuji, "It should almost be evening, and Nee-san or Yuuta could be home by now."

"Yes!" cried all the regulars and freshmen. They walked towards Kaidoh and Tomoka and formed a circle. Concentrating hard, they closed their eyes and focused on going back home. Soon, they found themselves back at Fuji's house, with the broken glass on the living room floor, and the window emitting a red-orange glow.

"Wow, it's that late already."

"We should go home – our parents might worry."

"We'll come back here tomorrow, ok?"

"ALL RIGHT!"

And soon each and every one of them went home, with the exception of Tomoka. She was to stay with Fuji, and he would contact her parents about her current status.

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Owari
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A/N: After a month and some weeks, I FINALLY update. But it's not as long as I hoped it to be, because I was a little lazy…and school's just around the corner. So I'll be updating weekly or so? I don't know yet, but I'm really sorry! Please review and give me any feedback! I am very happy to be criticized because there is always room for improvement. Arigatou!

Ja ne, and I do not own any part of Prince of Tennis!

Eternal.Angel