Chapter 7: Countermeasures

Unknown location, meanwhile…

"Damn, what a mess." Grimmjow muttered in surprise.

"It appears she is more dangerous than we realized." Sephiroth noted.

"And it seems this is only a fraction of what she's capable of…" Marluxia whispered.

"Hmm…." Nightmare growled.

The arc guardians and the overseer were gathered in a large room, and stood looking into a portal. Through the gateway, they could see Shinzo Takanashi viciously devouring the remains of what used to be Alexander Anderson. Her partner, Xalir, just stood off to the side, tapping his foot impatiently while he waited for her to finish. Grimmjow cringed slightly as he watched Shinzo tear out a lung to frantically eat shortly after.

"Ugh. I've committed cannibalism before, but this chick is just…nasty. She's just taking her time, eating him up bit by bit. Hell, at this rate I'm beginning to think she's less of a soul reaper, and more of an arrancar." he said.

"She is certainly a twisted child." Marluxia concluded.

The pink haired overseer put a hand to his chin and went into deep thought.I'd expect nothing less from the offspring of Yomi and Ebony. She is powerful, yes, and frighteningly so. And it appears that the younger sister has begun to discover her dark side as well. What the old vampire said still interests me…what exactly are you, Shinzo Takanashi? What is your 'true form'? And most importantly, how can I make sure that your power falls under my rule? All these questions and more swarmed through Marluxia's mind. He paused for a moment and felt around inside his coat. His fingers found what they were looking for and closed around the small object. I can think about that later. Right now I need to make sure you don't interfere with what I have in store for the multiverse. Pulling his hand back out of his coat, he turned to his arc guardians.

"If this is only a small portion of her power, then we can safely assume that she will reach this place very soon. Not only that, but her sister and her friends have begun to discover their own gifts. We must remind them that we are now the sole rulers of their worlds." Marluxia stated.

"And how do you propose we do that?" inquired Sephiroth.

Marluxia smiled coyly. "I need you to fetch some things for me. I have a solution to our problem, but I require a few materials."

"What? You just want us to run some errands?" Grimmjow groaned.

"It's either you get what I need, or I send you back to the afterlife. Are we clear?"

"(sigh) Fine, whatever you say boss."

"Glad to see you understand. Come with me, gentlemen."

The overseer exited the room, followed by Grimmjow and Sephiroth. Sephiroth noticed Nightmare lingered behind, still staring at the portal.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

The azure knight turned an inch toward him. "Go, I will follow shortly."

"Very well."

Sephiroth left to join the others, pondering for a moment as to why the normally loud and arrogant knight had barely said a word. Back in the room, Nightmare stared intently at the image of Shinzo as she finished devouring Anderson. Soul Edge vibrated lightly in his grasp when the girl stood up and allowed the aura around her to grow. From under his helmet, the azure knight's lips formed a wicked smile. Laughing quietly, he turned and walked to join the others. Interesting…so that is the source of her power. Perhaps you and I will be seeing each other very soon, Shinzo Takanashi.

Three days passed, and Marluxia was pacing back in forth in his study in frustration. During the time he had sent his arc guardians away, three more of the lower class guardians had been slain. He had watched the former guardian Notokishi renounce her allegiance and apologize for her clouded judgment. Shinzo and Xalir had moved on to another world, but had yet to encounter any guardians. Hisana and her party still resided in Windbloom, honing their skills through training. What was most troubling was that all of the guardians that died during those three days, had been defeated by unknown individuals. The people were starting to get brave, and then it would only be a matter of time until they arrived on his doorstep. Despite his confidence in his abilities, Marluxia was not so foolish to believe that he was invincible. Not yet, anyway. With a total of twelve guardians dead, his patience had grown thin. A wave of relief washed over the overseer as his three arc guardians entered his study.

"Do you have what I sent you for?" Marluxia demanded.

"Yes, we believe we've gathered some sufficient materials." Sephiroth stated.

The arc guardians laid down a massive silver zweihander, a pile of ash, and a journal. Marluxia looked over the items and picked up the journal. He flipped through a few pages to be sure it was what he wanted, and smiled devilishly when he found that it was. He had successfully recovered Vexen's research notes.

"Yes…yes…well done gentlemen, these materials will prove to be most useful." he said.

"I damn well hope so. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get all that ash?" Grimmjow complained.

"It was also tiresome to dig through so much rubble for that blade." Nightmare added.

"Well I can assure you, your efforts will not go to waste. With the data I can retrieve from these items, we can expect results within a short time." Marluxia noted.

Marluxia worked fast. Just two days later, he obtained results. Following the information in Vexen's journal, as well as using his own power, the overseer had successfully created two humanoid beings: a tall man with short dark hair and blue eyes, and a short blonde girl with long unruly hair and golden eyes. Both creations stared blankly in front of them. Marluxia could only smile at the results of his work. There was only one last thing he had to do to complete the beings. With a wave of his hand, a name appeared in ghostly letters in front of the man and the girl. With another wave, the letters rearranged themselves and an 'x' was added somewhere amidst the arrangement. Marluxia turned first to the tall man.

"Your name shall be…Ikxaru." he decided.

"I am…Ikxaru…" the man repeated in a low voice.

Marluxia then turned toward the girl. "And you will be called Rikxaga."

"My name is…Rikxaga…" the girl repeated in a high voice.

Marluxia smiled at the pair. "Ikxaru, Rikxaga, from this day forth you will answer only to me. Do you understand?"

"I…understand…" said Ikxaru.

"Rikxaga…understands…" said Rikxaga.

Marluxia couldn't help but feel proud of his success. He put a hand on both of his creation's shoulders. "I'm expecting great things from both of you." he chuckled. "Yes, I believe that you will serve me well."

Another five days passed, and two more guardians fell. The pair of Tsuyo-sa Irino and Yasha had departed Windbloom after he withdrew his troops from Earl, and were currently searching all over the city of New Mombasa for the third guardian of that world. Now there were fourteen dead in total. The sudden loss caused Marluxia to accelerate the development of his creation's combat capabilities. The overseer was worried that pushing the pair so hard so early would hinder his plans, but to his astonishment and wicked joy the pair quickly adapted and completed their training. They even developed personalities of their own. Ikxaru had grown a strong desire for combat, and Rikxaga became cold and indifferent towards just about everyone around her, save for Ikxaru, who seemed to be the only one she got along with. Satisfied with the progress of his creations, Marluxia decided it was time to truly put their skills to the test.

"Oi, superior, what's up?" said Ikxaru as he entered the observation room.

"Is there something you need, superior?" said Rikxaga, following behind him.

The two wore the same black cloak as Marluxia, who turned towards them. "Ah, you're here. Yes, there is a very important task I need you to undertake."

"A task? Does that mean..." Ikxaru began.

"You're finally sending us on a real mission?" Rikxaga finished.

Marluxia nodded. "Yes, the time has come for you to show me how much you've progressed. There are some individuals who have become thorns in my side, and they must be dealt with. I cannot leave this place for certain reasons, and I do not wish to risk the arc guardians just yet, so I can only entrust this task to you."

The pair looked at each other with excitement.

"Alright! It's about time I got to see some action!" Ikxaru put his fist into his palm.

"If that is what superior wishes, then Rikxaga will do her best." Rikxaga brushed her hair out of her eyes.

Marluxia smiled. "Glad to see you're excited. Now listen closely, this is who you must eliminate..."

Amestris, Central City, sometime later...

"And you're sure there's no guardians here?" said a short blonde boy with a mechanical arm and leg.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that if there were such powerful enemies here, I would've detected them." answered a tall man with pale blue skin littered with pebbles.

The boy let out a defeated sigh. "Ah well, it didn't hurt to ask. Still, I never thought I'd see you again, Zelgadis."

"Likewise, Edward. I just thought I'd stop by this world and check up on that alchemy you showed me last time."

"That was like, five years ago! I hate to break it to you, but I don't exactly have my alchemy anymore."

"Really? What happened?"

Ed put his fingers to his forehead and groaned. "It's complicated..."

"I see..."

"Hey Zel, are you done yet?" shouted a young woman with long and wild red hair. She stood next to a tall blonde man who was currently eating a drumstick.

The chimera turned toward the woman. "Yes Lina, I'm just about finished. Tell Gourry to slow down or he'll choke."

"Huh? Hey! Gourry, that was my chicken!"

The woman and the blonde started fighting over the food. Zelgadis sighed as he and Ed watched from afar.

"Remind me again why I work with you people..."

Just then, there was a loud crash as something struck the ground between the chimera and his friends. A tall man with dark hair and blue eyes wearing a black cloak rose up from the crater formed by the crash. Zelgadis, Lina, and Gourry all readied themselves for combat. Ikxaru looked back and forth between the groups on either side of him and smirked.

"So you're the ones getting on the superior's bad side, huh? Okay then..." he pulled back his sleeves, revealing shining silver gauntlets over his hands. "Show me what you've got!"

Without warning or explanation, Ikxaru immediately sprang in the air toward Zelgadis. The chimera kept a tight grip on his sword and swung upwards as the cloaked man threw a punch his way. Ikxaru's gauntlet connected with the sword, and Zelgadis found himself struggling to hold the blow back. He quickly glanced back at Ed.

"Run!" he commanded through grit teeth.

Despite his desire to help, Ed knew that he wouldn't be any good in a fight like this. Reluctantly, he nodded and ran to safety. As soon as Ed was out of sight, Zelgadis's sword shattered to pieces, no longer able to withstand the force of his opponent's punch. Ikxaru's fist slammed into the chimera's face with an audible crunch, something that normally should not have happened considering the chimera's rock like skin. As Zelgadis fell backward from the blow, Ikxaru spun around and kicked him through the window of a nearby shop.

"Zel!" Lina called from where she stood.

Ikxaru turned to face her and Gourry with a crazed smile. Gritting his teeth, Gourry ejected the blade of his sword and ran at the cloaked man.

"You bastard! You'll pay for hurting Zelgadis!" the swordsman held out his hilt as he ran. "Light come forth!"

At his command, a blade of pure light extended from the hilt of Gourry's sword. Ikxaru quirked an eyebrow in interest as the blonde swordsman leapt at him, sword ready. The cloaked man made no attempt to dodge as Gourry swung down at him. To his surprise, Ikxaru caught the light blade in his hand. Gourry stared at the man in disbelief.

"No way..." he muttered.

"He caught it?!" Lina exclaimed.

Ikxaru's smile only widened. "Yeah, I caught it."

Before Gourry could make another move, Ikxaru rammed his knee into his gut. Gourry coughed up a short spout of blood from the blow. As he began to collapse, Ikxaru grabbed him by the head, lifted him so that they were eye level, and gave him a powerful right hook that catapulted the swordsman toward Lina. Gourry unconsciously skidded to a halt at the sorceress's feet. Lina stared in shock at her injured friend, then glared furiously at Ikxaru.

"How dare you!" she stuck out her arm toward the cloaked man. "Fireball!"

An orb of flame shot out from her outstretched hand toward Ikxaru. The cloaked man merely smirked and swatted the spell aside with a wave of his hand, causing it to explode as it came in contact with a building. Lina froze in disbelief for a moment, then her glare returned and she drew her arms back.

"Flare Arrow!" she commanded.

A pair of large arrows made completely of fire formed in her hands, and she threw them like javelins at her opponent. Ikxaru crouched down, then swung his foot in an arch as the arrows neared him, deflecting the projectiles and sending them flying off course. During his deflection, Lina noticed that the cloaked man had silver greaves that matched his gauntlets underneath his cloak. Ikxaru resumed standing posture and smiled devilishly at Lina.

"Is that all you've got?" he taunted.

Lina trembled with rage. Not only had this man singlehandedly bested her allies in mere seconds, but he also could defend against her spells as though they were nothing. She glanced around her. The area was too populated to fire a dragonslave, and she dared not tempt fate with the giga slave. Which meant she only had one spell left that might work against this strange foe. She quickly chanted the incantation (A/N: I forgot the words. It's been awhile since I last watched Slayers :p), and held out her hands.

"Ragna Blade!" she said as she finished the incantation.

A massive sword made of crackling dark energy formed in her hands. Knowing that she only had a few seconds to keep it stable, Lina firmly grasped the Ragna Blade and charged toward Ikxaru with the tip pointed at him. With a yell, Lina thrust the sword forward. Ikxaru held out his palms to meet the sword. Upon coming in contact with the cloaked man's hands, the sword began to dissipate and shatter. Lina could only watch in disbelief as the mighty sword of chaos magic disappeared, and Ikxaru pulled back his fist in preparation. He smirked fiendishly at her as his fist thrust forward.

"All too easy."

CRACK!

New Mombasa, at the same time...

Tsuyo-sa braced herself as she burst through the glass of a thirtieth floor window. A gargantuan stream of electric yellow energy surged past her, blowing apart the building she had just been in. The short brunette summoned her large gauntlets as she neared the adjacent building. She thrust her fists forward just as she was about to hit the concrete wall, making a hole large enough for her to roll through and land safely inside. Quickly putting her weapons away again, Tsuyo-sa took off past the abandoned desks and offices as a gigantic metal hand with clawed fingers burst through the building towards her. The hand recoiled when it felt nothing within its grasp. Tsuyo-sa found an exit leading to the roof, and quickly ascended the building. Once outside on the roof, she frantically ran toward the edge of the building. An earsplitting mechanical roar came from close behind her, knocking the girl off her feet. Tsuyo-sa spun around to look at the source of the roar. A gargantuan bipedal reptilian robot, with glowing yellow eyes, three rows of large spines on its back, and a tail standing at least ten stories high stood towering over her on the opposite side of the roof. The robot opened its mouth, revealing a large laser cannon. As the weapon began to charge, Tsuyo-sa quickly rose to her feet and bolted straight toward the edge of the building. The robot's laser finished charging, and a huge beam of deadly yellow energy shot towards the small girl. Tsuyo-sa jumped off the edge of the building just as the beam sailed over her head. Unfortunately, the next nearest building was a very long way down, long enough to the point where it was questionable whether or not her healing abilities could save her from dying on impact. The pavement began to enter her field of view, and she closed her eyes and braced herself for the end. Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms around her, and the next thing she knew she was on something solid. Tsuyo-sa opened her eyes to see Yasha holding onto her, and the interior of an Elite phantom around them.

"That was reckless, even for you." Yasha said sternly.

Tsuyo-sa pouted. "Hey! It's not my fault the last guardian turned out to be a giant mechanical lizard with lasers and stuff!"

Yasha sighed and smiled at the girl. "No, I suppose not." the demigod turned toward the Elite clad in white who stood nearby. "Thanks for your help."

"You can thank me once we have defeated the guardian." the Elite growled. Half of his mandibles were missing.

"How are the ground forces down below doing?" asked Tsuyo-sa as she stood.

"Not well. The last time I checked in with them they had yet to pierce the beast's armor. It appears that whoever created this metal monstrosity was determined to make it resistant to nearly all kinds of damage, especially heat. Not even our plasma weapons can break through."

"It must have some weakness, we just need to find it." Yasha muttered. An idea suddenly crossed his mind. He turned toward the front of the dropship. "Pilot, can you take us around the monster's head?"

"I can try, but it will not be easy. I suggest you grab hold of something." the pilot responded.

The phantom was forced to bank sideways as the robot swung at them with its claws. The pilot managed to take them around to the back of the monster. Suddenly, the spike tips of the robot's spines shot skyward, revealing themselves to be rockets. The rockets locked onto the alien dropship, forcing the pilot to maneuver every this way and that to avoid being shot down. The dropship sailed past the side of the robot monster's head. From where he stood, Yasha got a clear look at what appeared to be a circular door built into the robot's ear. Before he could act on it though, the pilot quickly dove their phantom downwards as another homing rocket came at them.

"I think I know how we can beat it now!" Yasha said over the roar of the rockets.

"How?" Tsuyo-sa and the white Elite asked.

"It appears to have an entrance in its ear, most likely to accommodate for a crew."

"Okay, so how do we reach it?"

"That's the problem. It's too far away for me to jump, even if I teleport. Unless..."

"Unless?"

Yasha looked at Tsuyo-sa. "I have an idea, but you may not like it."

Yasha was right. Tsuyo-sa did not like his plan one bit. It involved him throwing her at the robot's head while in midair. But the only suitable position for her to be beforehand placed her directly on top of his head.

"If you look up, I will kill you." the short girl said through clenched teeth, cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Relax, I'm not like that." Yasha grumbled. Although it was hard to see with the girl's skirt flitting around in front of his face.

"Get ready!" the pilot called as he made another pass.

The ear entrance came into view.

"Now!" the white Elite ordered.

Yasha leapt from the phantom, waiting until he had begun to descend to throw Tsuyo-sa at the robot's head. The short girl summoned her gauntlet and latched onto the door. Worriedly, she looked back to where Yasha had been. The demigod had managed to grab onto one of the robot's shoulder spikes, He was safe. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tsuyo-sa tore off the door, put away her gauntlet, and climbed up the narrow access tunnel. Upon reaching the control room, she saw the word 'Kiryu' printed above the main computers.

"Tsuyo-sa, do you see anything?" came Yasha's voice through her recently acquired communicator.

"Yeah, I'm in a big room with lots of buttons and panels." she answered.

"Do any of them tell you how to shut down the monster?"

"Uhhhhh..."

There were so many instruments, that it was impossible to tell exactly what did what. She heard Yasha sigh through her communicator.

"If you can't figure it out, then I suppose you could just smash it."

"Yeah, let's go with that."

Tsuyo-sa summoned her weapons, and a few minutes of ruthless pounding later, the control center was in shambles. The robot came to a sudden halt, and Tsuyo-sa was flung off balance. Regaining her footing, the short girl noticed that one of the few surviving panels indicated that the monster was offline. With a sigh of relief, Tsuyo-sa made her way outside to find Yasha waiting for her inside a phantom. The demigod smiled and held out his hand to her.

"Good work, partner." he said warmly.

Tsuyo-sa smiled and joined him aboard the dropship. The pair had now freed this world of Marluxia's rule, and watched as his legions were quickly sucked up into the dark sphere in the sky. Soon enough they touched down back on solid ground. The pair and the white Elite walked off the phantom to greet the ground forces, and gasped in shock at what they saw. Everywhere they looked, dozens of Elite warriors of varying ranks lay dead. Some were slashed to bits, others were crushed or pummeled.

"By the gods...what could have done this?" demanded the white Elite.

He got his answer when the tip of a gold and black sword stuck through his chest. Dark violet blood leaked from the wound and his mouth as the Elite collapsed to the ground in a lifeless pile. Standing behind him was a short figure whose features were hidden by a black cloak and hood. Tsuyo-sa was the first to act. She summoned her gauntlets and ran straight at the figure. As she swung with her large fists, the figure summoned a large golden shield to their other arm and blocked the blows. The recoil sent Tsuyo-sa staggering back in surprise. Yasha attempted to strike the figure from behind with a well placed kick, but the attack missed when the figure side stepped out of the way and took a slash at him with its sword. The blade cut across the tall demigod's chest, and he jumped back to Tsuyo-sa's side gripping the injury.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The figure made no reply. They dematerialized their weapons, then reached back and pulled down their hood. A long and wild blonde mane fell down the figure's back to their waist. The figure then looked at the pair before her with golden eyes and smiled.

"If you live to see me again, perhaps I'll tell you." she said. "But for now, my work here is done."

Before the conversation could continue, Rikxaga disappeared in a small vortex of darkness. Marluxia would surely be pleased.

27 Guardians Remaining...

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry that this one is a little shorter than the others, I was really tired when I typed this and wasn't entirely sure what to do with the chapter. To all you godzilla fans out there: Yes, they just did battle with Kiryu (aka Mechagodzilla). As always, I ask you to continue reading and be sure to review! I'm always willing to hear what others have to say, be it good or bad. (but not too bad though, please) Till next time! DarkNovelist out.