Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Rosario Vampire. I am merely twisting the creator's vision into my own dream. If the supernatural, sexuality, or violence is offensive to you, than you should not read this.

Chapter 227

Lieutenant Tanaka Ito had known he was out of his depth from the beginning. The gentleman facing him across the barroom table radiated confidence the same way an armed and crewed Self Defense Force tank did. Of the two, Ito would have preferred to face the tank. With no other real option, he had decided to be polite and accommodating.

"What would you like to know?" Lieutenant Tanaka had asked.

Ito and Ross had both been polite and honest with the man that had introduced himself as Shuzen Issa. They had explained who they were, and who they represented. After establishing that they were possibly, by nature of their obligations, limited in what they could say, they shared what they could about Aono Tsukune

Ito did not have much that he could share. In truth, he knew every little, and most of that could have been found by a competent private investigator. He was still trying to think of a way out of his current bind when his cellphone started to ring.

"I beg your pardon," The lieutenant said to the gentleman. "But that ring tone means the call is from my office."

"Go ahead," Shuzen Issa said with a small nod and a flick of his finger.

Tanaka Ito was careful to reach for his phone and pull it out slowly, so as not to alarm anybody. He knew that there had to be some bodyguard types watching him, and he really did not want a misunderstanding to bring his career, and his life, to a tragic end. He pressed a button and answered his phone.

"Lieuten..." Ito had stareded to say.

"Tanaka!" His captain's voice shouted out of the phone. "This is an emergency. Drop whatever you're doing."

"Sir," Tanaka replied. "I am at..."

"I know where you're at damn it," The captain snapped. "Your damn security checks that you wanted to do, well I should have let you do them. We just got word that something is going to happen. You are to be the one on the scene in command. Local police, private security, whatever you can find. Official notification is going out to the local police headquarters to get you everything we can."

"Sir, I don't..." Tanaka tried.

"Terrorist threat," The captain explained. "Too many damn rich daughters of rich families in one place. Your job is to secure the perimeter. Keep everybody out of the hotel. Move fast but quiet. Don't give away our advantaged. They don't know we know. You got that?"

"Yes sir," Tanaka Ito, lieutenant and father answered sharply. "I understand." He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the gentleman across the table. "Sir, I am sorry, but this conversation has to be over now. I can't exp..."

"I heard enough," Shuzen Issa said. "Thank you for your time." He turned his attention to his attractive companion. "Mira, return to our rooms and tell the servants to pack..."

"Ross," Ito said as he stood up from the table. "If you have anybody in here that will listen to you, tell them it is time to leave, quietly."

"What is going on?" Ross asked as he stood up as well.

"Aono Tsukune is over in the ballroom right now," Ito explained. "Remember what he told us about that group that was after him? They are going to make a move here, tonight."

"When?" Ross asked.

"Now," Shuzen Issa said. He felt the ripple of dark energy. Fear was rising sharply in the air.

"Shit!" Ito exclaimed as he headed for the exit.

In moments, all around the bar, cellphones started to ring.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

"What did he mean by that?" Yukari asked as Tsukune turned away from his friends. "Where does he have to go? Moka?"

Moka did not answer right away. She was watching Tsukune, feeling his youki explode through him as his body changed. His hair turned the shade of tarnished silver and grew longer, down to his shoulderblades. His hands turned into vicious claws, and his wings erupted from his back between the sections of armor on his coat.

It was Mizore that gave Yukari her answer. The snow woman crouched down and picked something up off the floor. She stood and held it up so the others could see it. Gold glittered in the dim light. Dangling from Mizore's fingers was the holy lock and a section of its chain. The artifact that had helped keep Tsukune safe had been destroyed.

"Mizore," Moka said in a hard voice. "You have to get away."

"What?" Yukari demanded.

"Moka?" Kurumu questioned.

Moka turned to her friends. Her eyes were red and green and silver highlighted her hair. She gave them a look that pleading.

"Kurumu... Everybody," Moka said. "Keep Mizore safe, no mater what."

"What are you going to do?" Kurumu demanded.

"We are going to help Tsukune," Moka said. Her voice was deadly serious as she raised her hands to her neck. "Maybe we can save him, but if not, we can help him save everyone else." She started to unbuckle her choker that held the rosario seal.

Moka pulled off her limiter and let it fall to the dance floor. Her eyes were on the fight ahead of her, where Tsukune was already launching himself at his enemy. Her youki flooded through her in a nearly intoxicating rush. Moka did not waste any energy on posturing or bother yelling out in anger. Her attention was only for what lay ahead of her.

Xx

"Let's go," Mizore said as Moka moved away. She turned from the dance floor and scanned the room. "This way." She started moving towards the main exit.

"What are you doing?" Kurumu questioned.

"What about Moka and Tsukune?" Yukari demanded.

"Tsukune told us to keep Mizore safe," Ruby answered.

"Moka knows what she doing," Inari added, sounding more confident than she felt. "We need to protect Mizore."

"I will not just run away," Mizore said firmly. "The biggest problem is how to get everybody to safety. If we force a way out through the main exit, then others will be able to get away also."

"And if we are protecting you," Kurumu said with a feral smile. "We have a chance to do what Tsukune would, and protect everybody else too."

"Yes," Mizore nodded.

"Then let's do this," Kurumu said as her mask seemed to melt from her face. Her wings burst through the back of her costume and her armor formed heavy gauntlets that protected her from the middle of her upper arms down.

"Student Police!" Inari barked, shifting to her strongest fighting form. Her boots were torn, reducing them to grieves, but her skirt and armored jacket still fit her well enough, even if she popped a few seams. "Stand and defend! Protect the others! Protect the humans!"

"Stand tall!" Another voice called out. "Stand together!"

"Yukari," Ruby spoke up. "Come with me."

XxXxX

"You..." Tsukune's roar had sounded over the raising, frightened voices.

The man-turned-monster almost choked on his own laughter. Someone was approaching him. It was a young man that was radiating youki. The person was not running away, or acting frightened. The young man was approaching with his eyes showing intense focus.

"You..." The single word came again.

The general of Fairy Tail felt his gut clench. He realized that something was wrong. He realized that the situation was not perfectly under his control as he had thought. He realized that one young man filled with power could be a problem.

"No..." The man whispered as the truth struck home. It was impossible, but there was one person, one young man that could ruin everything. Aono Tsukune...

"You!" Tsukune roared and he bounded over Aiko where she was sprawled on the floor and rushed the monster in front of him.

"NO!" The man-turned-monster roared back.

Tsukune hit his target in a flying shoulder check. The Fairy Tail general was driven backwards and knocked off his feet. The sound system booth was destroyed by the force of his body smashing against it. With a wordless roar he regained his feet and threw himself at the youkai captain.

XxXxX

Aiko was stunned by the blow that had sent her sprawling. Her head ached and she felt dizzy. She was till trying to understand what had happened when she felt hands pulling her to her feet.

"Come on," Yukari urged. "We have to move."

"What?" Aiko blinked.

"We need to go," Yukari said again.

"We need your help," Ruby said. She held her wand in front of Aiko. "Use this like a microphone. We need you to tell your school mates to stand together."

"What is going on?" Aiko demanded.

"It's Fairy Tail," Ruby explained quickly. "Evil youkai terrorists. They tried to hurt your school mates at your festival. They have hurt a lot of innocent people. They hate humans. We can fight them, but we need the humans to stay out of the way if they can't help."

"Have them move into groups to help each other," Yukari prompted as she continued to lead Aiko from the dance floor.

Aiko managed to look around. Moka was fighting a half dozen monsters, her silver hair flying as she practically danced among her enemies. Tsukune was fighting a huge monster and a pair of lesser nightmares. All around her Aiko could hear yelling and screaming.

"Let me help," Aiko reached out and gripped Ruby's wand. Ruby held it steady and the crystal in it started to glow.

"Everybody..." Aiko began. Her voice boomed out, magically amplified. "Everybody listen to me. Get together with your friends. Use the tables to make shelter. Don't panic! You are not helpless. We are not alone!"

XxX

Mizore guided the main offensive towards the doors. It was clear that the Fairy Tail solders had been ordered to keep people from escaping, but that was exactly what she was going to keep them from doing. With Kurumu at her side, they were the Black and White Duet, and they were not going to let Fairy Tail win. Inari was there as well, ready to protect and support Mizore while rallying the Student Police and the other youkai students to fight.

Not all of Fairy Tail's members were high powered monsters. 'S' rank youkai were few and far between in normal circumstances. Even 'A' rank monsters were not all that common. 'B' and 'C' Rank youkai, when gathered together, when teamed up, however, they still became a dangerous power to reckon with.

Three young women, 'A' ranked youkai, advanced on the main doors of the ball room. The youkai there, all in bestial forms, moved to block the exit. The fight started out as four against three. The Fairy Tail soldiers were put down hard and fast.

XxxX

Moka was grace and power in motion. She was fighting against six opponents. While none of them were close to being her equal in power or ability, they had her out numbered. They were strong enough that they were giving her a hard fight. It was all she could do to stay calm and keep fighting. She wanted to be with Tsukune. She wanted to be fighting at his side, but first she needed to get past the soldiers that faced her.

The fight was slowing her down, keeping her away from Tsukune's side. The six enemies were trying to work together, combining their strength to match her. Her dress was already a mess, and her mask was gone, but she was already inflicting damage upon her opponents. They were slowing down as their bodies absorbed her kicks and strikes. It was only a mater of time before they started to fall.

XxxxXxxxX

The Fairy Tail leader was filled with rage. He could already tell that his perfect plan was crumbling. Aono Tsukune was challenging him head on. The first few blows they had traded had been frightening in the amount of power they had contained. The man could not believe the power Tsukune had. The younger man was a monster of a totally different order.

The two soldiers had tried to double team Tsukune. They had tried to take him from the sides while he was focused on their leader. It had almost worked, but not well enough.

Tsukune had traded a half dozen blows with the monstrous leader of Fairy Tail when the pair of lesser nightmares had tried to come at him. Tsukune had responded by taking a short hop back and to his right. He had caught the soldier on that side, digging his talons into his opponent's arm and shoulder, and threw him into his partner. As they went down in a tangle, Tsukune closed quickly with their leader again.

The leader made a wide swing at Tsukune's head. His giant fist had all the power of a cannon ball. Tsukune ducked under the blow and launched a kick that took his enemy in the gut, bending him over and knocking him on his ass.

Tsukune knew he only had a moment before the leader would be up again. He turned his attention quickly to the pair that were ready to face him again. He closed the distance with a Flash Step. His left hand stabbed out with stiffened fingers, hitting the first of the pair in the solar plexus. The attack struck deep. When Tsukune felt something firm against his fingers he grabbed it hard and twisted it with a jerk.

The crushed and ruined spine became an anchor that Tsukune used to pull himself forward. Using speed and leverage, he added power to the fist he launched into the face of the second soldier. With a wet crunch, the life of the thug was snuffed out.

"You!" The leader of Fairy Tail bellowed as he launched himself at Tsukune.

Tsukune managed to pull his gory hands free in time to face the true enemy. Their bodies collided and went down. Tsukune was driven to his back but was able to make it a tumble that let him break free and throw the larger man-turned-monster from him. They both regained their feet and closed in on each other again.

XxxxXxxxX

Moka had a vicious smile on her face. She knew for a fact that two of her opponents would never be getting up again. One had gaping hole where his throat used to be. The other one's head was twisted so far to his right that he was looking somewhere off to his left with glassy eyes. A third was holding on to his crotch as blood drained between his fingers. Moka suspected that he would be finished bleeding or even moving soon.

The three still standing were running out of fight. One was having a had time moving due to a crushed hip. Another had lost an eye. The one with a broken arm and ribs was bleeding where his bones were poking out. Moka did not want to suffer any more delays than she had to, so she took the fight to them.

She punished them with a series of rapid attacks. Using Shroud she closed in without them being able to put up a defense. A quick kick snapped a knee. A slicing swing of her hand opened another throat. A spinning kick crushed ribs, stabbing them into the victim's liver. Finally a snap-kick caught the last one on the chin, folding his head back, snapping his neck.

With her opponents down and out of the fight, Moka turned in time to see something shocking. Tsukune was still fighting the enemy leader, but that was not what caught Moka's attention. Crumpled on the floor, his body reverted back to human but still broken, his abdomen and back both torn open, was Aaron.

Moka approached the young man and crouched down. She could tell that he was suffering, and that he did not have long to live. He was clutching weakly at the whole in his body while laying on the floor. His back was bent at a weird angle and his breathing was labored.

"Moka?" Aaron said, looking up at her. His face had lost all color and his eyes didn't seem able to focus correctly.

"What are you doing here?" Moka demanded.

"Prove myself..." Aaron wheezed. "I'm better..."

"Better?" Moka questioned.

"Better for you," Aaron's face twisted into a pain filled smile. "Better than that... That Tsu... Tsukune."

"You are a fool," Moka shook her head.

"Then where is he?" Aaron demanded. "The strongest... We are all the strongest... Where is he?"

"You stupid fool," Moka stood up. "Who do you think it was that you were fighting?"

"What?" Aaron coughed. "Moka..." He tried to reach for her leg.

"You should have learned your place when you had the chance Aaron," Moka stepped out of his reach. "Tsukune is the one that has killed you, and my place is with him." She turned away from him, letting him die, alone in impotent rage.

XxxxxXxxxX

The leader of Fairy Tail knew he had failed. His plan was in ruins. His enemy refused to be beaten. It seemed like the more powerfully he attacked the stronger his opponent had become. It was all he could do to come close to matching Tsukune's speed, and the attacks he failed to block were costing him.

He thought he had an opening, a chance to win, when Tsukune slipped in the blood spilled out on the dance floor. The man-turned-monster raised his hands and brought them together, swinging them down in a pile-driver blow to crush his enemy.

Tsukune had spun out of the way, but not without making an attack of his own. His wings lashed out as he spun, slicing into the abdomen of his enemy. The Fairy Tail leader staggered when his blow failed to land as his own intestines spilled out of his gut.

The man-turned-monster hesitated then. He looked down to see his own insides spilled out at his feet. It was a fatal mistake. A flash of red and black and a burning sensation in his shoulders was followed by the sight of his arms falling to the floor. He felt a moment of pressure on the back of his head, and then a knee rushed in to fill his field of vision. Pain exploded in his face, for a brief instant, and then even that was gone.

XxxxXxxxX

All around the ballroom fighting was taking place. They thugs of Fairy Tail had expected soft prey. The plan had been to take a bunch of spoiled human unaware. That there would be youkai attending the masquerade had never even been considered. That those same youkai would be ready and able to put up a fight had been unthinkable.

The Student Police, current and graduated had been the first to stand up to protect the others. While the thugs had were closely matched in numbers to their unexpected opponents, they did not have the discipline. In the face of able resistance the members of Fairy Tail had hesitated. When the call to stand up and stand together had been shouted out above the frightened screaming of the humans, the Student Police had taken it up.

The Student Police were not alone in their fight. The youkai of the Drama Club, while not as disciplined when it came to fighting, were not exactly helpless. Ken was just one that was able to stand up against the thugs. Emmy was not going to let Kota come to harm ether.

Others were also able to stand up to the thugs. Kokoa, armed and armored, was a small juggernaut, leaving broken thugs in her wake. Nagi had been dancing with Kiyo, and had drawn his sword at the first sign of danger. The pearly white blade could be mistaken for plastic, but it was strong and sharp, a real weapon in his hands. Emmy had been surprised when Kota had pulled out a pair of short rods that had been concealed within his costume. Once he had them out he depressed a button on each one, making them give off a short, high pitched whine. When one of the thugs came within his reach he had struck out. The rod delivered an electrical shock strong enough to leave the thug twitching on the ground and a burnt smell in the air.

"Never piss off an engineer," Kota had said with a smirk.

Other humans showed that they were not entirely helpless ether. One of Kota's buddies had used his camera's flash to blind a thug, while another went for the old standby of breaking a chair over his head. Hana displayed a surprising skill with thrown objects, accurately sending dirty plates into the faces of her targets. Jessie had a pair of girls huddled against his back. For a costume he had borrowed from an old American sitcom. He had his hair slicked back, faded jeans, an old leather jacket, a white tee shirt and a black neck tie. When the fighting started he pulled off the leather jacket and wrapped it around his left arm to use as a shield. In his right hand he wielded his belt as a weighted whip. The buckle, traveling faster than the speed of sound, had already smashed in more than one face. After a quick reversal, he lashed out with precision to shatter the angry orb of a cyclops, blinding it.

"Aaaaaaa," Jessie said with a thumbs-up, mimicking the American character he had dressed up as.

Xx

The perfect plan to establish the power of Fairy Tail ended in ruin in just moments. By the time anybody had tried to make an escape, ten broken soldiers littered the ground around Inari and the Black and White Duet. The gathered fighting strength of Fairy Tail was only able to hurt a few victims before being beaten back and beaten down. Screams of fear had turned into angry shouts. A thug brought low by a swing of Kokoa's mace was quickly overwhelmed by gang of human young women who's romantic night had been ruined. They vented their frustrations with wicked, well placed kicks.

The decorations were trashed. Dresses were ruined. Young men and women, human and youkai, were bloodied. Some were scratched, cut, or suffering from broken bones. A deep roar of anger and pain crashed over the ballroom. The fighting was over. Fairy Tail of Japan, like so many of its members, was left broken... Crippled.