Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
There was a flash of red and gold, followed by a scream of agony.
A severed hand, still clutching a detonator, flew through the air, spurting blood as it tumbled towards the ground.
A sword flicked to the side, catching some stray drops of blood before they could stain Kyukogo's beautiful dress. The Hegemon stared in shock, eyes widened at the sight of her savior as Akira glared at the would-be assassin with nothing but contempt in her golden eyes as he was promptly dog piled by Uchuhage and a bellowing Onimusha looked as if he were seconds away from crushing the Child of Bakano's skull in with his kanabo. "Akira…?"
"MOMMY!"
Kyuhime and Nyahime rushed to their mother's side with Usatan not far behind, clinging to her legs in terror and concern as a frightened and relieved Nyajou grabbed her wife.
"… You don't need to be afraid," Akira said, not looking back. "It's over now. The bad man's been dealt with."
"… Thank… Thank you," Usatan whispered, so quietly she almost went unnoticed. Everyone glanced at her in surprise.
"… Oh my. Usatan almost never talks, not even to family," Nyajou exclaimed in disbelief.
"Well, she was just saved in an incredibly dramatic and stylish fashion," Kyukogo pointed out, cheeks red as she looked at Akira in adoration. "Thank you, Akira. Once again, it would seem I am in your debt."
Still not looking at her, Akira's shoulders tensed. "… Not enough to call off the invasion, of course."
The amount of bitterness and anger in her voice nearly caused Kyukogo physical pain. Which was why, without thinking, she said, "And… What if it was?"
Startled, Akira finally looked at her, while all the Youkaliens stared at her in astonishment. "Darling…?" Nyajou whispered in disbelief.
"Your Divinity?!" Onimusha stammered.
"Mommy?" The twins chimed, confused.
Akira blinked, confusion and something almost like hope in her gaze. "Kyukogo, do… Do you actually mean-"
"Ms. Tyruga?"
And just like that, Akira's eyes dimmed, her expression becoming closed off again as she turned away from the distraught Kyukogo. "Inspector Toujiro? What are you doing here?"
Dan Toujiro was a completely plain, unassuming man in his forties with a worn trenchcoat, short dark hair, perpetual eye bags and stubble, and a badge hanging from around his neck. Following Hop's transfer into protective custody on the Shining Isles, the Police Department had selected him to be their new liaison with the Diningers. He had been chosen for one reason and one reason only: because he was openly gay, and so they believed there was no way he would ever fall in love with Akira and become compromised like they were convinced Hop had been.
The irony that his sexuality, which had earned him scorn and stifled his professional development for years, was what had finally earned him a promotion was not lost on him, and he was perfectly happy to be more than friendly with the Diningers to spite his superiors because he had zero interest in being a political pawn or a naked attempt for the force to demonstrate how inclusive and tolerant they were.
"There's been an incident. Your friend Kazekiri was right again," Toujiro said wearily, sounding like he hadn't slept in years.
"Of course I was, I tend to be," Sora said as he and the rest of the team arrived. "What was I right about this time?"
"There's been another murder," Toujiro said, straight to the point.
Sora narrowed his eyes. "At the Eras Memorial?"
Toujiro nodded. "Just like you said."
"I thought you guys were supposed to have kept the area closed off and under heavy surveillance, especially after what happened the last five times," an angry Kenji pointed out.
"We did," Toujiro said bluntly. "They were all slaughtered just before the murder happened."
Jiro sighed. "Of course they were."
"You should have let us help," Mozu said angrily. "We offered so many times!"
"Yeah, well, you know how the department is," Toujiro grunted, shrugging in irritation.
"And with this latest murder, that brings the total up to six," Sora murmured. "And it should be seven. All the other deaths, including this one, have been at sites where villains fought by dinosaur and ninja Sentai were defeated in the past… Except for Daimaou. It's the only flaw in the pattern."
"Maybe Daimaou is next?" Tetsu suggested.
"Maybe, but it makes no sense," complained. "Daimaou should've been second, but instead they jumped right from Dai-Satan and Dora Talos to the Evil Will. There's something we're missing."
"And there was another ritual circle in blood at the site?" Akira inquired.
Toujiro nodded. "Just like all the others. No sign that any villain or monster had been resurrected like the ones at the Kusarikokon Festival a few weeks ago, either. We do have one lead, though," he said, taking out his phone and showing them a picture.
All of them crowded around to see it, with a curious Onimusha leaning over everyone's heads, the little princesses on his shoulders and Kyukogo and Nyajou and even some of the Uchuage craned around him to try and see. The picture was rather amateurish and blurry, but they could clearly see an incredibly beautiful woman flirting with an average-looking man at a bar.
"The guy's the murder victim, Go Tezuka," Toujiro informed them. "We haven't IDed the woman yet, but she was the last person he was seen with, and they left the bar together."
"You're not going to find her," Akira said abruptly. "That's not what she looks like."
Toujiro raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How can you be sure of that?"
"I feel no attraction to her at all," Akira explained, causing her friends to gasp.
Toujiro raised his other eyebrow. "That is unusual, especially for you, but what does that mean?"
Akira pursed her lips, looking like she was trying to find the right words. "Okay, it's like…I'm attracted to beautiful women, right? But it's not their physical beauty that appeals to me. Well," she admitted when everyone looked at her skeptically. "Not just physical beauty. I can't explain why, but I can immediately tell if that beauty is fake. Like if it's someone pretending to be someone they're not."
"Even from a picture?" Toujiro asked in amazement.
Akira nodded. "Even from a picture. And looking at her… Something tells me that even if she really is as beautiful as she appears to be… I would still feel nothing for her, because there is no beauty in her soul. If there is even a shred of goodness or decency in a woman, no matter how deeply it's buried, no matter what they look like, I can still feel something for them… But this woman? She is, without a doubt, evil to the core." She contemplated for minute. "Or a guy in drag. The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but it's still an option."
Kyukogo trembled, upset by this. Akira didn't even want to look at her anymore. Did… Did that mean…?
"Well, be that as it may," Toujiro said. "We're still no closer to finding out who's behind this or what they're up to."
"Well, the obvious answer is they're trying to revive all those legendary villains beaten by past Sentai," Mozu pointed out.
"Yes, but we still don't know why, why they haven't done it yet, or why they haven't done anything regarding Daimaou," Sora replied.
"It's that last one that really bothers you, isn't it?" Kenji asked wryly.
"It's keeps me up at night," Sora said gravely.
"Perhaps I might be able to shed some light on the matter?"
Akira perked up as a familiar, very pleasant scent filled her nostrils. "Lady Sakuya!"
"Hello, Diningers," the priestess said, looking as beautiful she had the first time they met her, if not more so. "It's been a while."
"Auntie Sakuya!" The princesses cheered, immediately rushing to their side along with Usatan at a more sedate pace.
"Hello, children," the Miko said fondly as she bent down to hug them. "It's good to see you again."
"The same could be said of you, Lady Sakuya," Tetsu said respectfully.
"Yes! But… Why are you here?" Mozu asked in puzzlement.
"It looks like you've regained your strength after our disastrous first encounter with Kurohonema. Have you found a way to deal with him?" Kenji asked hopefully.
"Perhaps," Sakuya said vaguely. "It is one of many projects I've been working on recently, along with more charms for protections against evil, a potential cure for Her Divinity's allergies, a way to free any of our slaves who wish to be freed, an alternate energy source for us to feed on… I have been a very busy sorceress as of late."
Nyajou chuckled. "Come now, Sakuya, you know as well as we do that you're never happy if you don't have some project to occupy yourself with."
"Well, living as long as we do, if you don't find ways to keep yourselves occupied, it can get dreadfully boring," Sakuya chuckled. "But in any event, Her Divinity asked me to look into these mysterious ritual killings following the attack on Kusarikokon and the subsequent murders in hopes that I could divine something that your earthly mages could not."
"You brought her in on this?" Akira asked sharply, glancing at Kyukogo, who flinched. "Without asking us?"
Kyukogo wrung her hands "I… I was just trying to help."
Akira clenched a fist slightly. "Yeah. I've heard that from you before…" She relaxed a fraction. "Still… It is good to see you again, Lady Sakuya," she admitted, and Kyukogo was torn as to whether she was relieved by this, or if she was jealous that Akira seemed more welcoming to Sakuya than herself.
"Do you think you can help us figure out what's going on and who's behind this?" Jiro asked the priestess.
"I certainly hope so. There's only so much I can glean from pictures and sense-imprints. I would like to examine the latest crime scene. If that is permissible?" She politely asked Toujiro.
Toujiro shrugged. "I'm not sure I even have clearance to authorize it, but go right ahead, I don't give a crap about procedure or protocol if it gets the job done, especially if it pisses off the higher-ups. Hop understood that."
Akira smiled fondly. "Yeah… She does."
"She doing all right?" Toujiro asked with a hint of concern.
Akira nodded. "She was very happy, the last time we visited."
"Considering it was you doing the visiting, that shouldn't come as any surprise," Kenji pointed out, causing her to chuckle ruefully.
"Shall we be off then?" Sakuya suggested.
"But Auntie, you just got here!" Kyuhime protested.
"Don't worry, dear heart, I promise I'll visit properly once the Diningers and I resolve this," Sakuya told them fondly, before flashing a smile at the ninjas. "It'll be a bit like old times, won't it?"
"Yeah…" Mozu muttered. "Except without Cuttertachi."
A heavy pall fell over the group at this. Onimusha sniffed, trying hard not to cry. "Yes… Without Cuttertachi," Sakuya agreed regretfully. "Well… We shall simply have to endeavor not to lose anyone else this time, yes?
"And, assuming I didn't just jinx myself… I didn't come alone," Sakuya said, nodding to a new Youkalien who came up beside her. "Everyone, I would like you to meet my newest apprentice, Tsukimiko, and her partner Kagu."
Tsukimiko was a very lovely young adult rabbit Youkalien with snow white for and red markings on her face resembling lunar crescents, with an upturned crescent on her forehead, the horns framing a pearl. She had very bright blue eyes and a warm, if nervous smile. She wore flowing priestly robes depicting rabbits and foxes hopping across tiny moons in a starry sky that hung loosely over her frame, hinting at a very shapely figure. She clutched a shako with a crescent and Pearl at the tip, wearing bracelets with several dangling charms which clanged melodiously against each other. One ear stood straight up, while the other was bent on itself halfway up, and she had very long silver hair in two tails going past her knees bound in red hair ties. A pendant resembling an incredibly complicated lunar clock hung between her breasts.
She bowed her head respectively. "Greetings, Diningers. I have been watching your competition since the beginning, and sensei has told me much about you."
"All good things, I hope?" Kenji half joked.
"Very much so. While your time together was brief, you left a strong impression on her," Tsukimiko said warmly, flattering them. "From her stories, and by watching you, I have come to respect you a great deal. Tetsu's strength, Mozu's compassion, Jiro's resilience, Sora's wisdom, Kenji's courage, and Akira's… Well. I don't suppose there are enough epithets to adequately describe you with, lady Tyruga. You are even lovelier in person than I ever dreamed."
Akira smiled, seeming to relax somewhat. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
"She really does," Kenji said wearily, while Mozu giggled, already anticipating another potential lover to add to her girlfriend's harem.
"So where is Kagu? I only see you," Jiro inquired.
Tsukimiko smiled and stroked her robes, which seemed to react to her touch. "I'm wearing her. Kagu is a synthetic symbiotic life form who serves as my clothes, armor, best friend, constant companion, sister, and even lover. Most of my family are bonded to one, or least, those directly descended from my mother, since all our symbiotes are offspring of hers and so coded to our genome."
Kenji blinked. "A symbiote? You mean like Venom from Spider-Man?"
"I don't know who that is," Tsukimiko said, looking confused. "My mother, Tsukiryoshi, found the first symbiote in the ruins of a long dead civilization and bonded with her. She loves her just as much as any of her other wives, maybe more."
"What was she doing in some old ruins? Is she an archaeologist?" Sora inquired, intrigued.
Tsukimiko laughed and shook her head. "Oh no, she's a bounty hunter, as well as the best slave Hunter in the entire Hegemony."
Akira stiffened, and her friends tensed, Mozu cringing and mentally crossing Tsukimiko's name off the list of potential harem members. And what a shame too, she seemed so nice and pretty… "A… Slave Hunter?"
Tsukimiko nodded, sensing the shift in mood but oblivious as to the reason for it. "Oh yes, not only has she managed to procure some of the rarest and most exotic slaves from across the galaxy for the nobility, but she has a near 100% success rate for rescuing slaves who got lost, were abducted, or for some reason ran away from their masters. Why, the Hegemon herself has used her services many times, especially to find slaves to give as presents to her children and wife and other loved ones!"
"Has she now," Akira said, turning to look at Kyukogo, who very much wished she were anywhere but here right now.
"Oh yes, and in fact, I fully intended to follow in her footsteps – quite a lot of our family has, though not all, for example my sister Tsukisei is a famous singer and engaged to a kamitsune – but then it was discovered I had an aptitude for Youkalien spiritualism, so I wound up taking an apprenticeship with sensei instead," Tsukimiko said happily, only for her face to fall slightly. "Of course, the family business has been a little… Tricky lady, especially after what that Justine woman did-"
"Hey, you know what, I think it would be a really good idea for you all to go investigate that crime scene," Nyajou said loudly. "Preferably right now."
"I second that motion," Kenji said quickly, the rest of the team nodding rapidly.
Sakuya frowned and looked back and forth between Akira's stony expression and the guilty, upset look on Kyukogo's face. "… I think that might be the best," she said slowly, sensing there was something very complex and unpleasant going on here.
Kyukogo had always gushed about Akira in the past, and when she met her it was clear there was mutual attraction. What happened?
"Yeah, okay," Akira said finally.
"Akira, wait, about what I was trying to say earlier-" Kyukogo started desperately.
"We can talk about it later," she said curtly, turning to walk away.
"… But how can I do that when you won't even give me the time of day anymore?" Kyukogo whispered unhappily as Nyajou put an arm around her shoulders in sympathy.
"So? What do you think?" Toujiro asked Sakuya several minutes later.
"Well, that's clearly a dead body," Tsukimiko interjected before her mistress could say anything.
The inspector gave her a tired, dead eyed stare. "You don't say."
The nine (or 10, if you counted Kagu, which Tsukimiko certainly did) were gathered around the Eras monument, or rather, the spot where a man had been murdered last night. Several other police officers were present, but standing some distance away, and regarding them with contempt. It was unclear if this was because of the presence of the Diningers, whom they might not be fond of for any number of reasons, the Youkaliens, whom they had even more legitimate reasons not to like, or Toujiro, who most of them had despised for years and now outranked them.
Alternatively, they might have been unsettled by the purified Gashadokuro accompanying Sakuya and Tsukimiko, which was glaring at them menacingly.
(He was actually wondering if any of them wanted to be friends because he was a big softie now, but of course they had no way to know that.)
Before the memorial was the by now familiar sight of a complex magical circle painted in blood. Just like all the others, it felt wrong, a complicated mess of runes and sigils which hurt your eyes the longer you looked at them and induced waking and sleeping nightmares, a sickening miasma filling the air that made it difficult to breathe, made those who stayed in it too long get sick or develop heightened aggression, and was generally unpleasant.
As Akira had said the first time she sniffed it, it smelled like death. An unclean death.
(And almost familiar, at that.)
Also there was a pretty nasty dead body in the middle of the circle, which didn't really help matters. Go was almost totally unrecognizable, a twisted, mutilated, charred mass of flesh and muscle which had clearly died very painfully, and very slowly. It had also partially melted into the ground and could not be removed, and anyone who tried to or attempted to step into the circle started vomiting blood and needed to be evacuated immediately. Experts like the Magirangers or Haruto Sohma had been contacted for help but were still researching the makeup of the spells and had yet to find anything conclusive.
"Just like all the other victims," Mozu murmured sadly, gripping Akira's hand tightly.
"Poor guy," Kenji agreed.
Akira narrowed her eyes. "We have to stop this, before it's too late."
"It may already be," Sora said grimly.
"Lady Sakuya, what are your thoughts?" Tetsu asked the Sage.
She glanced at him. "I'm curious to hear your thoughts, actually. I heard you've been studying spiritual magic yourself?"
Tetsu nodded. "Yes, but I'm still an amateur."
"And your teacher is a living God, which already puts you ahead most other students at your level," Sakuya assured him, causing him to blush.
"Not as much as me, though," Tsukimiko said teasingly.
"Well, it's a little tricky to tell what with all the corpse bits in the way," Tetsu said, taking out his scroll and pulling up an image of the spell circle used to revive Juza Yumihari and the one found more recently at the monument for the defeat of Gengetsu Kibaoni. "But there are small, subtle differences between the spell used during the Kusarikokon Festival and these. They may not seem like much to the average person, but…"
"Any alteration to a spell form, no matter how minor, can drastically alter the end result, much like with programming," Sakuya finished, pleased by his analysis. "And have you determined what difference these changes will make?"
He frowned. "Well, it's pretty clear they're also intended to use a human sacrifice to bring someone back, and given where each of these has been found, it's not hard to guess who the targets for resurrection are. However, there were no corpses left behind at the ritual circles used during Kusarikokon, while we still have six dead bodies. Given the bodies are still here and no great villains have been revived, the obvious conclusion is that the spell didn't work. However, given that the spell very clearly did work during Kusarikokon, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Plus, why would they keep making the same mistake six times in a row without any variance in the spell form?"
"So you believe it's not a mistake at all," Sakuya concluded.
"No. I don't," Tetsu confirmed.
"I concur. What I believe is happening here is that the sacrifices were successful, but the spell itself is incomplete," Sakuya explained. "Think of it as somebody pausing a download halfway through. The data is ready and on its way, but for whatever reason you decide to put it on hold until a more advantageous time."
"Then… Whoever's doing this has everything all queued up and ready to revive six of the greatest threats to the world in the last 30 odd years, and they're just waiting to press 'play' whenever they want and start the apocalypse?" A horrified Kenji realized.
"Just another Sunday, then," Toujiro said wearily.
"Not whenever they want," Sakuya assured them, to their relief. "There's a timer of sorts built into the spell. When the conditions are right, the spell will go off, absorbing the energy from the sacrifice and using it to revive a powerful entity, in this case… Eon, was it?"
"Eras," Sora corrected her.
"Yes, her."
"What are these conditions?" Akira asked sharply.
Sakuya frowned and examined the spell again. "From what I gather… It's waiting for a particularly massive surge in negative energy from the netherworld, and it looks like it might happen soon. Do you have any idea what might cause something like that?"
Jiro and Tetsu gasped, snapped their fingers, and pointed at each other. "Hyakki Yakou!"
Sora slapped his forehead. "Of course, Hyakki Yakou! I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner!"
"I'm sorry, what is Hyakki Yako?" Asked the confused Tsukimiko. Sakuya seemed equally perplexed.
"It's an old folktale," Toujiro said. "Apparently, for one summer night a year, a hundred Youkai and other supernatural monsters rise up and parade through the streets, destroying everything in sight."
"Except it's not just a folktale," Akira said grimly. "It used to happen all the time back in the old days, and our clan was one of many who battled the Youkai whenever they came out in force to protect as many people as we could. It still happens now, but by this point most of the biggest and baddest spirits have either learned their lesson or are dead, so it's only the stupider, weaker ones who try to cause trouble and are usually dealt with without anyone noticing, made easier thanks to there being so many heroes and ninjas now who can handle that sort of thing."
"Even so, it's a lot easier for certain evil spells to be performed during the event, especially those pertaining to resurrection," Mozu said seriously. "It's practically a necromancer holiday."
Tsukimiko yelped. "Oh my… That does sound like whatever our mysterious mastermind is waiting for!"
"When is this demon parade supposed to happen?" The worried Sakuya asked.
"I think it's… Yes, it's tonight," Sora said in dismay, checking his scroll.
"Of course it is," Toujiro said, not even looking surprised.
"Sensei, can we stop it in time?" Tsukimiko asked in concern.
"… I think so, yes," Sakuya said, staring at the spell circle for a moment. "While all the spells are connected, disabling one won't shut them all down, so we'll still need to move quickly to get to the rest."
"We still have a few hours until sunset, so we should have just enough time to get the other five," Kenji said in relief, tinged with a healthy dose of anxiety.
"Six," Sakuya corrected him.
Everyone stiffened. "Six?" Akira asked in alarm.
Sakuya nodded. "Yes, there are a total of seven sacrifices, not six."
"I knew it!" Sora exclaimed. "I mean, yes, it's terrible that there's been another death, but I knew there had to be a connection to Daimaou!"
"I don't know who Daimaou is, but was he defeated in South Korea?" Tsukimiko asked.
Sora gave her a confused look. "What? No, he was defeated here in Japan."
"Then whoever the seventh sacrifice is, it's not connected to him, because it's in South Korea," the rabbit Youkalien told him.
Sora stared at her, poleaxed. "South… South Korea?! But… What the hell is in South Korea?!"
"South Korea? Shit. Can we make it there in time?" Jiro demanded.
"With mine and Tsukimiko's magic, yes," Sakuya promised. "Though we'll be cutting it close, especially since the caster laid quite a few nasty traps to try and trip up anyone attempting to disarm the spells. Still, it's nothing an enchantress of my caliber can't handle. Tsukimiko, we have to begin right away. Tetsu, Jiro, you may be able to help as well, if you are willing to assist?"
The two most spiritual members of the Diningers nodded. "Right. Tetsu, let's-" Jiro began.
"Um, guys? Should it be doing that?" Kenji asked in alarm.
Everyone looked at the circle and were horrified to see that it was starting to glow, the mangled corpse bubbling and melting and deforming, the evil aura filling the air increasing exponentially.
"What? It's… It's triggering now?!" Sakuya gasped.
"But… That can't be!" Sora protested. "Hyakki Yakou isn't until tonight!"
"Did the caster leave some kind of remote trigger, so they could set it off whenever they wanted?" Mozu suggested.
Sakuya shook her head. "No, I didn't detect anything like that. It seems as if the negative energy flow you described is happening this very instant. But how could that be?"
Akira cursed, eyes widening. "Shit. I just remembered. Hyakki Yakou is supposed to happen at night, but there are a few instances where that isn't always the case."
"Oh! Of course!" Jiro realized. "If there is a strong and evil enough Youkai already up and about, it can sometimes cause Hyakki Yakou to happen ahead of schedule, even in broad daylight!"
"Like in the summer of 2015, when the breaking of Gengetsu Kibaoni's seal raised an army of 100 Youkai, which were defeated by AkaNinger and StarNinger," Tetsu recalled.
"Right, didn't the two of them compete to see who could kill the most Youkai, only for it to end in a tie?" Kenji remembered.
"That's the one," Sora confirmed. "They were also arguing over who had the best fashion sense."
"Which of them did?" Asked the curious Tsukimiko.
"Neither, both of them looked like idiots," Mozu replied.
"Because both of them are idiots," Akira said scornfully.
"But who could possibly be able to trigger a premature… Oh," Jiro whispered, turning pale as the only possible answer struck her.
"Deathbringer," Akira snarled. "I thought this evil smelled familiar."
"You know, I'm not even surprised, this does seem like the sort of thing he would pull," Kenji groaned.
"And it's been a while since he's tried anything," Tetsu agreed. "We wondered what he might be up to. I guess now we know."
Toujiro cleared his throat. "That's very well and good, but… The spell?"
"Can we stop it?" Tsukimiko nervously asked her teacher.
Sakuya shook her head. "It's too late. All of them are going off at once. Everyone, brace yourselves! We may be in for a fight!"
Everyone tensed as the earth shook and a pillar of darkness erupted from the circle, their charms against evil glowing very brightly, cracking somewhat, but still managing to protect their wearers as the fell ritual reached its culmination, more pillars appearing across the country with one more across the sea.
The skies darkened. The earth trembled. And several great evils were dragged back from the depths of hell, given another chance to destroy the world.
In cities all over Japan, a giant floating head covered in spikes, a giant white mecha, a bizarre looking colossus with a single eye and a massive crown, and a giant armored ogre shogun manifested, bellowing as they began to lay waste to all before them.
At two separate but oddly identical quarries near the coast, a shapeless cloud of malefic energy with a twisted face and a green monstrosity with a butterfly on its face materialized.
In South Korea, a blue monster vaguely resembling a Tyrannosaurus roared triumphantly as he lived again.
A red monster vaguely resembling a queen chess piece, surprised by her unexpected revival and confused by the angry and frightful strangers pointing swords at her, wondered what the heck was going on, because these certainly weren't the Ryusoulgers.
And on his dark throne, Kurohonema the Deathbringer grinned at his tired but exultant minion, flush from the success of her spell. "Perfect. Now for phase 2…"