-Ten-Faced Paladin
Legendary Celestial Warriors
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 4: Kumamon's Deep Freeze (Part 1)
After what felt like forever, Koji allowed himself a sigh of relief as he rested on his mother's couch. As expected of all mothers, Ms. Kimura fretted over him for the better part of an hour. When she was finally finished for the time being, she sent Koji and Koichi back to her house to rest. She was going to stay to answer questions from the police. The elder brother had just finished cleaning all the soot off his skin. He stepped out into the living room in clean clothes to talk to his brother on recent events.
"So you got your spirits back," he said, more a statement than a question.
"Yeah," Koji nodded. "I managed to see Bokomon and Neemon but I couldn't get a chance to talk to them."
"Why not?" Koichi asked in confusion, Koji, while cold, wouldn't shrug off friends without one heck of a good reason.
"With the fires out and Meramon gone the Sailor Scouts were beginning to ask questions," Koji explained. "That and the police and firefighters were due to arrive."
"Didn't you say that they invited you to a meeting?" the elder brother asked, recalling some of what his brother told him.
"Yeah," Koji replied with a small grin. "I called Takuya while you were in the bath and let him know."
"So are you going to go?" Koichi asked, wanting to know a little more about the situation.
"I have to," Koji sighed. They didn't tell me when the actual meeting was going to take place. That's why I told Takuya about it. He can keep track to see if the meeting is actually happening and he can sit in for me."
"So when are you going to go?" Koichi asked. "You're a guy who is on time...mostly."
Koji shot a good-natured glare at his brother before making a reply, "I'm actually leaving now. I just thought I'd say goodbye. Make sure to tell mom that I went home."
That message being sent, Koji headed for the door. Koichi couldn't help but have the last word.
"Mom is still going to flip when she finds that you aren't here," he smiled.
Koji shrugged as he slipped his shoes on, "That little problem I leave to you big brother."
"Sure," Koichi laughed. "When everything is fine we're twins. When we're in trouble, I'm the older one."
Koji shot him a grin before exiting out the door. He made his way outside the apartment complex and walked down the street. After spotting an alley he could use, he ducked inside while pulling out his newly reaquired D-tector.
"Excecute! Spirit Evolution!"
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Agunimon sighed as he leaned on the edge of a building overlooking the Hikawa shrine. When Koji called him and told him that the Sailor Scouts were meeting here, he immediately spirit evolved and headed straight over. It surprised him just how fast one could get from one place to the other by roof hopping. He had seen a few people, but nothing that hinted at the Sailor Scouts. Then again, the scouts probably didn't fight monsters for so long by being easy to figure out their secret identities.
"Anything?" a new voice from behind Agunimon asked.
Agunimon turned to see Lobomon walking towards him. He smiled to see the warrior of light in his Digimon form again.
"Hello to to you to," Agunimon smirked. "It's been quiet. There have been a few visitors since I got here. Two girls came by and talked to the priestess but she started shouting at them about something. I could hear her from here. Another girl with short hair stopped by a minute before you got here. That's about it."
Lobomon peered over the edge of the building and noticed a car pullling over to the side near the shrine. Inside were five passengers. The driver was a woman with short blonde hair. Lobomon might have mistaken her as a man if he didn't hear her voice as she talked to her passenger. A woman with shoulder length aqua hair. There were also three girls in the back. Two of them were about their age. One had short dark hair while the other one had pink hair styled with rabbit ears. The last girl was a bit older with long blonde hair. All five of them got out of the car and made their way to the temple.
"Who are they?" asked Lobomon.
"Dunno," Agunimon shrugged. "Maybe they're the Sailor Scouts?"
"Only one way to find out," Lobomon replied.
Agunimon smirked as he watched the five girls go inside the temple grounds. Satisifed that they wouldn't be seen, he leaped over the side of the building and landed on the sidewalk. Lobomon silently followed him and landed silently. When they got to the foot of the stais, Lobomon had instinctively touched the hilt of on eof his swords.
"Oh come on," Agunimon frowned. "It's not like they're going to attack us on sight."
"Old habits die hard," Lobomon replied without dropping his hand from his weapon.
Lobomon continued on his way while Agunimon just shook his head before following him. He just hoped that no one did anything drastic or jumped to conclusions.
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Raye was far from happy at the moment. She had just gotten a call from Mina saying that another Legendary Warrior had appeared and that he was coming to the meeting. She might as well have told him who they really were right then and there. It had been a flurry of phonecalls to warn everyone. It didn't help her mood when Setsuna teleported in and scared the crap out of her when she wasn't paying attention. When everyone had finally arrived, including Bokomon and Neemon, she decided to start the meeting.
"Okay everyone," she spoke. "Since a Legendary Warrior is supposedly coming, I had Luna, Artemis, and Diana keep an eye out."
"Why is he coming here?" asked Hotaru curiously.
"Because 'someone' had to invite him at the risk of our identities," Raye sighd while shooting a glare at Mina and Lita.
"Well, we could use their help," Lita defended.
"Yeah Raye," Serena added. "What's your problem?"
"My problem is that we know next to nothing about them and our identities are going to be found out if we aren't careful!" Raye ranted.
"Um, Raye?" asked Rini, trying to catch her attention.
"Another thing is that we don't even know what they are capable of," Raye continued, not noticing the younger scout's words.
"Raye?" Rini pressed, apparently needing her attention.
"To top it off!" Raye growled. "We don't even know if those spirits things have ended up in the right hands!"
"Raye!" Rini shouted at the top of her lungs.
"What?!" Raye shouted back, earning sweatdrops from everyone.
"Your pocket's glowing," the girl from the future reported in an even tone.
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Raye's pockets to see if what Rini said was true. Sure enough, there was a red light emenating from the priestes' pocket. It could even be seen through the fabric that made up her pants. Raye immediately reached inside her pocket and pulled out her henshin stick. The top, more specifically the symbol of Mars, was glowing brightly in red light.
Wondering if the same was happening to them, the other scouts retrieved their own means of transforming. Only Mina's henshin stick was acting the same as Raye's. The symbol of Venus shone brightly in yellow light.
"What...what's going on?" asked Lita out loud.
No one could really give a good answer. They really couldn't even attempt at an answer. Before anyone could really try, three familiar moon cats came racing into the room, looking somewhat unnerved.
"Girls!" Luna said urgently. "Agunimon is back and there's someone dressed in white with him!"
Artemis hadn't gotten a chance to say anything yet, but he did notice something that Luna didn't. Two things to be exact. One was Bokomon and Neemon. In all the hurry to get them outside, Raye hadn't informed the felines about their presence. The other thing was the glowing henshin sticks in the hands of Raye and Mina.
"Uh...what's going on?" he asked bluntly.
Bokomon glanced at the cats in mild curiosity. He had seen the cats in the presence of the girls while he and Neemon attended the meetings that they held. It was rather surprising to find out that they could talk but it wasn't unusual. The digital world was filled with stanger things. Now the talking poop called Sukamon, that was strange. Neemon, on the other hand, had a different reaction to them.
"Hi!" he smiled as if meeting them for the first time. "I'm Neemon."
"Hello," Diana smiled innocently, perhaps a little on the naive side considering the current situation. "My name is Diana. These are my parents Luna-mama and Artemis-papa."
The scouts sweatdropped again at the meeting of the minds. Diana's innocence paired up quite nicely with Neemon's cluelessness. They also couldn't help but be surprised at how calmly both of the Digimon were taking the concept of talking cats. It got some of them wondering just how different the digital world was from the human one.
"Can we please get back to the two Legendary Warriors outside?!" Luna snapped. "And why are Raye and Mina's henshin sticks glowing?"
Bokomon looked at the two glowing itemse while he pondered the question, "If I had to guess, I thinnk it must be some kind of affinity that Raye and Mina have with Agunimon and the warrior he is with. If he's wearing white then it must be Lobomon."
"Yay!" Mina and Neemon cheered, even if their reasons weren't the same. They were still happy about seeing the warrior of light yet again.
"What are we waiting for?" Mina smiled. "Let's greet our guests!"
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"So where is everyone?" Agunimon asked as he looked around the grounds.
"You're asking me?" Lobomon remarked incrediously. "You were the one watching people coming into this place. Didn't you see another exit or something?"
"No," Agunimon replied. "It's like they just vanished. Maybe those girls really were the Sailor Scouts. I mean, who else could vanish like this?"
"Agunimon! Lobomon!" two voices suddenly cried out, causing the two Legendary Warriors to turn around to face the origin of the voices.
As they did turn around, two fast moving objects collided with their chests, threatening to knock the warriors off their feet.
"Hello to you too Bokomon," Lobomon smiled as he handled the white Digimon. Agunimon was busy with Neemon.
"It's been so long!" Bokomon bawled.
"Why don't you vist?" asked Neemon
"I just got my spirits today you know," Lobomon defended.
"Yeah," Agunimon agreed. "It's not easy getting here either, even with roof hopping."
"Ahem," a female voice coughed politely.
Agunimon and Lobomon looked down and were faced by three cats. Two cats and a kitten to be exact. The adutls were either solid black or solid white. The kitten was pink. All three of them had a crescent moon shape on their foreheads.
"Greetings Agunimon, Lobomon," the black cat greeted. "We've been expecting you."
"Uh, okay," Agunimon nodded. "Thanks for having us."
Lobomon remained silent but he nodded a greeting. He wasn't going to reveal just how bizzare the situation was. Seeing a cat talking wasn't what was getting to him. He'd seen enough talking animals in the digital world. It was the fact that these cats were in the human world and had nothing strange about them save for the marks on their heads.
"The Sailor Scouts are this way," the white cat spoke. "Follow us."
With that said, the three cats began walking towards one of the buldings on the grounds. With nothing else to go on and no reason for distrust, Lobomon and Agunimon followed. They did notice that the pink kitten was throwing glances over its shoulder much like a curious child.
"Y'know, once upon a time this would have seemed strange to me," Agunimon snickered.
"I hear you," Lobomon nodded.
The three cats led the two warriors into a building that had a fire burning in the centre of the room. Agunimon could feel a kind of ancient power resonating from it. A power that was invoked many times over. Off to the side of it, the Sailor Scouts were all seated. Tuxedo Mask wasn't there. Lobomon peered at them all with a critical eye. He lingered longest on Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. They seemed willing to trust, but not quite yet. Lobomon made a self-note to watch out for those three.
"Yo!" Agunimon grinned as he took a seat in front of the scouts. Lobomon wordlessly joined him.
"Hi Agunimon!" Jupiter smiled brightly.
"Hi Lobomon," Venus greeted, wanting to get the warrior of light to warm up to her.
Both warriors idly noticed that two of the scouts were glowing. The centre of their bows to be more exact. Mars' bow was glowing red and Venus' bow was glowing yellow. Both warriros decided to ask about that later. Right now they had a few more pressing questions.
"Let's make this quick," Lobomon remarked. "What we know is that a Digimon called Daemon is sending his soldiers into this world. That in itself is a pretty big deal because we thought Digimon couldn't survive here."
"Hey!" Sailor Moon frowned. "You don't have to be so rude!"
"Relax," Agunimon chuckled. "It takes time and work to earn his trust. Even then he's not the most friendly person in the world."
The resulting glare from Lobomon would have killed lesser men. Agunimon just deflected it with a carefree grin that could warm any heart. It sure worked for Jupiter and Venus. They couldn't help but smile dreamily at the two warriorrs.
"Not quite what I was expecting of a warrior of light," Luna sighed with a small pout.
"Oh?" Lobomon remarked while turning his gaze to the black cat. "And just what were you expecting?"
"Well," Luna began. "I was expecting someone like a knight really. One who banishes evil where it stands and is the height of nobility. Not to mention someone who stands alongside those who share that conviction. Yet, you don't seem to trust obvious allies and your attitude isn't quite what I was hoping for."
"Luna!" Venus snapped. "That's rude!"
"Hnn," Lobomon frowned. "I fight with the power of light, but don't think that makes me some kind of fairytale knight. I fight threats to the innocents but I don't go hunting everything evil. It would never end that way. As for obvious allies, I only have seen Venus and Jupiter fight so I know they can handle themselves. I am a Legendary Warrior, but I am no knight."
Agunimon felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine at the mention of knights. Memories of Dynismon or Crusadermon still lived in him. He could still feel phantom pains from some nightmares he had just woken up from that entailed him fighting the two royal knights.
"Anyhow," Agunimon continued. "Just who is Daemon anyway?"
"We don't know that much really," Bokomon sighed. "Even my book has very little data on him. All we really know is that he has been amassing an army to take over the digital world. We just weren't sure where he was hiding the soldiers."
"Until now," Uranus remarked. "He's sending them here."
"Musyamon did mention that he was looking for a base for Daemon," Mercury spoke softly.
"Well, we can just moon dust any of his goons that come our way!" Sailor Moon smiled proudly.
"Who's to say that there aren't more of Daemon's goons already here?" Lobomon asked while folding his arms.
"You really know how to ruin a good mood," Sailor Moon frowned.
"It's one of his specialties," Aguninimon remarked casually, earning a giggle or two from the bubblier scouts.
"He makes a point though," Neptune spoke, agreeing with Lobomon. "How can we really be sure that there aren't more of Daemon's men out there?"
It didn't have to be said that they didn't. So far they only defeated two of Daemon's soldiers. For all they knew, Daemon's army could already be hidden all over the city, or even the country. All they would need is a signal to cut loose and take everything.
"Here's a dumb question," Agunimon spoke up. "Why are Mars and Venus' bows glowing? Our symbols have been doing it since we got here."
"We've been wondering about this too," Mercury spoke up while bringing out a small laptop. "We haven't had a chance to figure it out but now that we're together and not fighting an ememy, we might be able to figure it out. Um...could I possibly scan you two to see if we can find any connection?"
"Hnn," Lobomon nodded, showing his consent.
"I don't mind," Agunimon smiled. "Go ahead."
Mercury nodded as a blue visor appeared over her eyes. She gazed at the two warriors as she ran the scan on her computer. Details and bits of information ran down he screen. She saw a number of human elements in the two of them but she dismissed it since they were both so human-like to begin with. A few more moments and she saw something promising.
"It appears that your powers along with Mars and Venus' are drawn to each other," she explained. "They complement each other and from the readout, it seems that the energies can combine to create a larger attack. We've already seen that though. I assume that it's because of the elemental medium you share."
"So we're made for each other!" Venus squealed in delight
"Makes sense," Lobomon shrugged, accepting the reason. "Our symbols glow to let us know that the other is nearby."
"Cool," Agunimon smiled before beginning to stand. "If that's everything,"
"Wait!" Mini-moon and Saturn cried.
"What?" both Legendary Warriors asked at the same time.
"Um..." Saturn began shyly. "Do you...do you know when the other warriors will appear?
Agunimon and Lobomon looked at each other in silent contemplation. It was hard enough for everyone to get over to Juuban as it was. No telling when they could so they could get their spirits. Then there was the fact that the spirits don't obey orders unless they were needed to spirit evolve. They chose when to come to their chosen and not a moment sooner.
"They'll come in due time," Lobomon finally replied.
"Yeah," Agunimon nodded. "Good things come to those to wait."
The two warriors then made their way to the door. The scouts didn't try to stop them. They didn't even try to change back to their civilian form until the glow faded from Mars and Venus' bows. That was their signal to let them know that the warriors were far away. When they did change back, Raye sighed and leaned back.
"That could have went better," she sighed.
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While the scouts were discussing the results of their meeting, Agunimon and Lobomon were roof hopping back to Shibuya.
"There's something I don't get," Agunimon spoke suddenly. "How do the Sailor Scouts just use a temple like that for a meeting place."
"It's obvious," Lobomon sighed. "One of them must work there or even own the place. How else can they use it."
Agunimon nodded. That made sense. At least they had a place where they could find the Sailor Scouts or at least someone who could get a message to them. Agunimon also pondered the girls who entered the temple before they did. How many of them were Sailor Scouts? Possibly all of them.
'To know the Sailor Scouts," Agunimon snickered. 'Zoe will freak.'
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Things seemed to return to normal, or what passed for normal in Juuban. People were all talking about the Sailor Scouts, as was per usual for every appearance they make. The poeple in school were all talking about the new wave of 'youma' that were attacking and wondering what they wanted. There were a few people talking about the new fighters that were helping the scouts. A few boys were afraid that they were more of the scout's boyfriends like Tuxedo Mask was for Sailor Moon. Mina went into fits of giggles when she heard that rumor.
"So why are we doing this again?" Serena asked as she and the inners, including Rini, were walking down the street.
"My mother asked me to help with the daycare near the hospital," Amy explained. "Some of the nurses were having their children spend time there and they need help."
"C'mon Serena," Mina smiled. "This'll be fun. I'll even bet those kids are just adorable!"
Serena pouted as she thought about things she would rather be doing. Sleeping, eating, and being with Darien being the foremost among those things.
They did find their way to the daycare in question, and they all smiled at seeing the small children happily playing outside. As they walked through the gates, they saw the teacher watching over the children. As the teacher noticed them, she broke into a large smile.
"Amy!" she smiled. "You and your friends made it. Wonderful. I could use the help."
"It's no trouble at all," Amy smiled. "We're glad to help."
"Well I can use it," the teacher laughed. "The only peace I can get is during naptime since that new toy came."
"New toy?" asked Lita.
"Oh yes," the teacher nodded. "It just showed up one day, but the children just love it."
The teacher pointed to the window and the girls peeked inside. What they saw that caught their attention was a giant yellow bear that had a white tummy and a small patch where a bellybutton would be. It also had a white mouth and friendly red eyes. It also looked big enough to stand three heads taller than any adult there.
"Is that it?" asked Raye. "The bear?"
"That's it," the teacher nodded. "The children just love to play with it. It's almost like it's alive they way they talk to it."
"What's so special about it?" asked Serena, becoming eager to try to cuddle the bear herself.
"I'm not sure," the teacher shrugged. "The only thing different about it that I can think of is it's size and that the children named it Monze."
"That's so cute!" Rini giggled.
"So what do you need us to do?" asked Raye.
"Oh yes," the teacher spoke, remembering what she needed. "I need you all to watch the children while I pick up some supplies. Usually my assistant does it but the poor dear hit her head after falling over something. She's staying home for the next few days."
"You can count on us!" Mina smiled broadly.
The teacher gathered all the children so she could say goodbye and that they could meet the girls. The children made a big deal of the teacher leaving and when she was gone, Mina turned to all the small cildren.
"Okay!" she smiled. "What do you kids want to do?"
"Play!" was the unanimous cry.
The kids then made a mad dash for the playground. Rini wasn't that far behind.
"I think that we should get some toys for them to play with," Raye suggested. "There's only so much playground equipment after all."
"Good idea!" Serena smiled broadly. "I'll get the bear!"
"You just want to cuddle it don't you?" asked Lita.
"Of course I do!" Serena giggled. "How many people can say they've cuddled a stuffed animal that big?"
"I'm curious about it too," Amy admited. "The teacher didn't seem to know anything about it. Like it just walked here by itself."
"Then let's go get it!" Serena cried, eager for the stuffed toy.
"I'm sure the kids will love it if we bring it out," Mina reasoned.
In agreement, the girls went inside to collect some things. When they got inside, Serena attempted to make a beeline for the large teddy bear. Of course, she couldn't see a trace of it.
"Uh...where is it?" asked Serena.
"Serena you meatball head," Raye sighed. "It's right over...there?"
Raye was pointing to where everyone had seen the large stuffed toy in the window. Only now, it was't there anymore. The girls were now confused as to the fate of the giant bear.
"Huh?" Raye gasped, her only thought at the moment.
"Do you think someone stole it?" asked Mina
"Who would steal a giant teddy bear?" Serena asked, close to tears. Her chance at a king-sized cudde. Gone.
"Those kids are going to be heartbroken," Ami frowned sadly.
Before any speculation could be made as to the fate of the large bear, loud cheering could be heard coming from the playground. The girls all headed outside to with the unspoken decision to tell the children aboout the bear after they finished. They just hoped that the children wouldn't be too heartbroken at loosing their precious bear.
"Halt evil villan!" was what met them when they got outside.
The girls looked around and saw that some of the kids were playing while others were watching. Rini was in the centre of a group of five girls facing off against a boy with a youma mask made out of construction paper. There were other kids on the ground near him, pretending to be dead.
"To steal the lives of others is unforgivable!" Rini said loudly. "I Sailor Moon will not stand for it!"
"There's no way I sound that goofy, is there?" Serena asked with a red face.
The uncomfortable silence that was her reply was not a real confidence booster. Like mother like daughter after all. While Serena slumped into a depression, the other scouts continued to watch.
"I Sailor Mercury won't stand for it either!" saide a girl in blue to Rini's left.
"Neither will Sailor Mars!" shouted a girl in red to Rini's right.
"Sailor Venus won't either!" said a girl in orange to the far left.
"Sailor Jupiter won't stand for it!" shouted a girl in green to the far right.
"Sooooo cute!" the four inner scouts squealed in delight. Even Amy. Serena was still in her gloomy funk about Rini making her sound so wierd.
The boy in the youma mask made a funny growling soundas he looked at the 'Chibi-scouts'. The kids pretending to be dead were trying as hard as they could not to laugh.
"Rawr!" he growled. "You Sailor Scouts won't beat me!"
With another roar, he ran at the 'Chibi-scouts'. Before he could reach them, something fell that the real scouts recognised. It was a rose in full bloom. The only thing was that it was made of construction paper.
"Tuxedo Bear!" the kids watching the game cheered.
"Tuxedo Bear?" asked the five inners in confusion out loud.
Everyone looked to the slide and the cheers of the children increased. The real scouts felt their jaws drop at what they saw. On top of the slide was a large bear that had been missing only a minute ago. Only now he was wearing a white mask and a top hat made of construction paper. He also had a black sheet tied around his shoulders to make a cape. In his hand, despite having no fingers, he was holding another construction paper rose.
"How's that bear able to do that?" Raye asked herself. The scouts couldn't supply an answer.
To Be Continued.
A/N: Here you go guys. The origional chapter proved to be too long so I decided to chop it into two parts. Can anyone guess what the deal is concerning this yellow bear? I think it's obvious but I'm the one whp wrote it. I have been recieving concerns about the number of unfinished stories I have. I want to set the record straight right now that as long as people keep putting up good reviews and say that they want to keep reading the story then I will keep writing until it is finished. I never had much incentive to quit anything.