Asuka snarled in the Entry Plug of Unit 02. "What IS this? Does this thing have a core or not?!"
"Not every Angel we've fought has had a Core Asuka," Dr. Ritsuko said over the vid-com, "It's it a common trait but not a universal one among them."
"However," Rei said, "Every Angel Encountered has had an AT field, that is a universal trait. However, our Eva Units' AT fields had failed to cancel out anything."
"The Magi identified the Angel, and we've confirmed it's hostile already."
Shinji shot several rounds at the Angel's head, mostly because it's center was an empty hole. If Shinji hadn't know better, he'd have sworn the hole looked like a Valentine heart. The Angel bent itself over backwards to avoid the rounds. Shinji meekly added his two cents, daring to chit chat during a life and death battle, "Er, could that Magi have been... I don't know... hacked?"
"Almost Impossible." Ritsuko said at once.
Nabiki said nothing, also providing a direct attack like Shinji while Rei and Asuka supported. But she did agree that it was very weird… the moment the EVAs were scrambled, the Angel had stopped moving, it was like the entire point of it showing up had been to get the EVA's attention. "Doctor, are you detecting the presence of any other Angels at all?"
"No Nabiki, why would you even think that?"
"Just a bad feeling. Hope I'm wrong."
"Something is very wrong with these Digimon," Izzy said as MegaKabuterimon electrocuted the giant Kuwagamon, knocking it back hundreds of yards.
"Huh?" Davis asked, "I don't see a problem! We're kicking their butts!"
"Indeed." Magnamon agreed.
"That's just it." Izzy said, "Haven't you noticed? They haven't said one word this whole time! They aren't even calling out their attacks! Not to mention they aren't even screaming out in pain when hit by our attacks." While some digimon were feral and could not speak, to have there be ones that were totally mute was unheard of.
"You're just over thinking things, if we beat 'em what does it matter?"
Yolei narrowed her own eyes flying on the back of her partner Digimon, "No, Izzy's right! If these things ARE Digimon, how come they've been coming at us like robots? They aren't even TRYING to dodge our attacks."
Kasumi was just glad Akane was safe at home, away from this danger, no matter what it turned out to be.
Sailor Mars eyes nearly showed flames after the mass of Youmas were hit by a wave of various elemental attacks from the assembled Senshi. Some turned to dust... wait... black smoke?
"All right, whatever you are! Drop the act! Show us what you really look like!"
Sailor Moon looked at Mars confused as did Sailor Terra. "Mars? You feeling okay?"
Mars ignored them, "I'm a psychic! You don't think I can't sense that your auras are almost completely different from the Youmas!? Now end these games already!"
The youmas... stopped... then the black smoke enveloped them. And in their place were much more uniform creatures of darkness, they looked like pudgy clay dolls made of inky blackness, with insect feelers and solid nearly mindless staring yellow eyes. Among them, they saw more humanoid creatures holding rune swords with a small heart shaped hole in their chests.
"Wha?! What is this?!" Sailor Venus exclaimed.
Mercury's mind instantly began to process the situation. 'Is this... a distraction? Or are they just trying to make us use tactics we've used against Youma that wouldn't work against them? But if it's a distraction... what is it a distraction FROM?'
The Shadow Heartless vanished in puffs of black smoke when Akane's and Cait Sith's strikes defeated them.
For now, Akane was concentrating on taking down the black creatures, but she wondered where that strange cat had come from. She had never seen something like it before... and that's saying something for Nerima!
Finally, the last Shadow fell under one swipe of her Keyblade. Again, Akane was amazed at the ease she was handling the strange weapon with.
The giant, stuffed Moogle turned around and the black cat sitting on its top smirked. "Good job! Although, nothing else could be expected from a Keyblade wielder."
"So it IS called a Keyblade!" Akane shouted. "What do you know about this? Where do you come from? And what were those creatures?"
"Heartless," Cait Sith explained. "Nasty little buggers, aren't they? When they see a Keyblade, there's no way of stopping them: They have to kill the one chosen to carry it."
"Kill me?" Akane gasped. "Wait a minute! Chosen? By who?"
"By the Keyblade, of course!" Cait Sith said. "After you received it, the powers of darkness quickly learned about this world. And the Heartless, always anxious for consuming a world's heart, appear. It's no mere coincidence that they showed up at this place. And indeed, when I followed them, I found you: A new Keyblade Warrior!"
Akane looked at the unusual weapon in her hands. "But I am a martial artist. I've never fought with a weapon before... well, if you don't count my mallet... and what do you mean, this world?"
"Ah, sorry, of course you wouldn't know!" the cat smiled apologetically as he slid down his robotic mount. "See, there are many different worlds out there and this version of Earth you are living one is just one of them. Normally, we wouldn't know about other worlds... but after the Heartless showed up, the barriers between the worlds collapsed, and Gummi Ship travel became possible."
"What's a Gummi...?"
Cait Sith raised his paw. "Please, one thing after another! See, I'm from one of these other worlds, you know? I've been sent to instruct you about your new responsibility, the Keyblade and the Heartless."
Akane sat down on the sofa. "This is a bit too much at once..." she sighed. She looked down at the Keyblade. Only now did she notice a small chain that was attached to its handle, and dangling from that keychain was a small pendant shaped like a mallet.
Akane sweatdropped. Yup, that certainly was her very own Keyblade, no doubt about it.
But it was not just the keychain... somehow, holding the sleek weapon in her hands felt right... it wasn't just any weapon, it was an extension of her arm, something that had become linked with her heart and soul... and somehow, she knew that no matter where she was, she could always call for the help of her Keyblade.
Cait Sith leapt up next to her and sat down as well. "Well, there's much to talk about... what do you like to hear first?"
"Tell me more about these Heartless..."
Pegasusmon dodged another swipe from the tall, sword-wielding shadow creatures.
"Star Shower!" he shouted, flapping his wings. The brilliant stars raining down from his wings destroyed the Invisible Heartless.
"Good job, Pegasusmon!" T.K. cheered his partner on.
Suddenly, Pegasusmon saw something. "LIOMON! Watch out behind you!"
The powerful, four-legged lion Champion was fighting fiercely and had not noticed how another Invisible had merged from the ground behind him.
Kasumi gasped when she saw how the dark creature struck out with its dark blade. But her Digimon partner leapt up into the air, landed behind the Heartless and charged up energy in his mane.
"THUNDER OF THE KING!" he yelled, and sparks of electricity came forth from his mane, vaporizing the Heartless.
Kasumi sighed in relief. "Oh my, that was close..."
"Looks like that was the last one..." Kari sighed. "My god, what are those things?"
"I don't know!" Nefertimon said as she landed next to her partner and regressed back into Gatomon. "But they certainly were no Digimon."
"Yeah, that sure was a surprise when they transformed into those black monsters," Yolei nodded. "But if they are not Digimon, what are they?"
"That doesn't matter!" Davis smirked confidently. "Whenever they come back, we're gonna kick their butts!"
"Yeah, and I'll do the kicking!" Veemon grinned.
Kasumi was not the only one to shake her head.
Ranma groaned while she was on her wa back home.
"Whatever those things were..." the redhead grumbled. "Some of them certainly could pack a punch..."
She hadn't bothered to search for some hot water to return to her male form, even though Rei had offered to heat some up. She was exhausted, and the only thing she wanted was to go to bed. While Ami had scanned the strange creatures with her computer, Ranma did not stay around to see the results.
"I'll take a look at them later," she just said and left for home. But Ranma had never been the most patient guy. A trait that he shared with Harmony, the deceased Princess of Earth and sister of Endymion, as Mamoru had pointed out.
Being the reincarnation of that girl was even weirder than being cursed to turn into a girl with cold water. And after he had started to see Harmony in his dreams, he had acquired several of her old memories. According to Sailor Pluto, this was because of the unusual way Ranma had received his Senshi powers... and because the magic of Jusenkyo was affecting Harmony's soul.
Ever since he had realized how hard life had been for Princess Harmony, Ranma decided that being cursed to turn into a member of the opposite gender wasn't quite the worst thing that could happen to a human...
When she arrived at the Tendo Dojo, all she could think of was a warm bath and a good night's rest. She entered the house, murmured a short "I'm back..." and walked past the living room.
She abruptly came to a stop and blinked. Then she looked back into the living room.
Kasumi's new computer standing on the small desk in the corner of the room? Check.
Genma's and Soun's shogi board and its pieces scattered across the floor? Check.
Akane holding a huge key that somehow reminded Ranma of his mother's katana? Check.
A black feline wearing a golden crown sitting next to his fiancee? Check.
Akane gulped. "R-ranma... I d-didn't hear you come in..."
The pig-tailed girl's finger was trembling as she pointed at Cait Sith. "C-c-c-c-cat!! Caaaat!! CAAAAAAAATTT!!"
Cait Sith smiled and raised his paw. "Oh, hi there!"
"YAAAAAAAAAHH!"
Seconds later, there was no trace of the redhead, and a Ranma-shaped hole was in the wall next to the veranda door.
Akane sighed. "I probably should have told you that my fiance's afraid of cats..."
Cait Sith blinked as he looked outside. "You don't say..."
They both winced when they heard a loud 'CLANG' coming from outside, when Ranma collided with the leg of the huge Evangelion Unit that had landed next to the koi pond..
Ranma groaned and fell back on the grass.
Nabiki spoke through her intercom, and her voice echoed through the huge loudspeakers she had attached to her Eva's legs, directly next to the hatch where the combat knife was stored.
"Well, a pleasant evening to you too, Saotome! Did you have a good day at work? Oh, while you're here, could you please open the hangar entrance hatch for me? I think I forgot my keys..."