Been a while, but finally another chapter.
And got a couple of things being set up in this one as well, so hope you look forward to it!
"Nice place you got here," Shingo couldn't help but say…earning a small knock on the head from Usagi.
"Sorry about that. He said something similar when he saw Kensuke's apartment," Usagi apologized, making Shingo bow a bit.
"But they ARE nice places," Shingo couldn't help but say.
Kelch just chuckled at that. "It's fine. With the job the Riders have been given, the Tribe saw fit to ensure we were…well provided for. Call it compensation for our deeds if you will."
"It's pretty good compensation." Kensuke chuckled slightly, before he sighed "Anyway… so, you knew where the Princess was all this time then huh?" he said, eyeing Minako, who let out an awkward laugh.
"Well, don't get mad at him, I wanted to stay in hiding for as long as I possibly could and not get the Dark Kingdom to hyper focus while they still had their full power." Minako explained.
"That… you know, yeah, that does make sense." Makoto admitted "If they'd known while they still had everyone…"
"Queen Beryl would have sent us all after her, yes." Nephrite said with a nod as he sat at the table.
"That would have been rough." Naru winced.
"So now with the Generals down to half, you thought it would be safe to come out into the open?" Rei mused.
"That and more importantly, all seven of the Rainbow Crystals have been found…even if they're currently scattered," came another voice, causing everyone to look around to find the source…and soon saw it. A white cat walking out of one of the nearby rooms…and had the same crescent moon mark on his forehead.
"Another Maoian?" Kensuke blinked in surprise.
The white Maoian opened his mouth, no doubt about to introduce himself but…
"This is Artemis. Much like Luna, he's been Minako's guide regarding her being the reincarnated Princess, as well as regarding her powers as Sailor V," Kelch said, introducing the white Mau-ian, Artemis.
"...thank you, Kelch. I didn't realize I needed help introducing myself," Artemis said, shooting him a mildly annoyed look.
"Anytime buddy. Anytime," Kelch said, grinning at the cat impishly.
"Is this common?" Rei asked Minako idly.
"Yeah, pretty much." Minako said with an awkward laugh.
Luna narrowed her eyes a bit, tilting her head as she looked at Artemis "Do I… know you?"
Artemis frowned slightly, before he shook his head "We worked together under Queen Serenity back during the era of the Moon Kingdom. I guess you still don't remember everything then."
"I suppose not." Luna frowned, having this strange feeling she couldn't quite explain.
"Still, guess that means you got a friend now," Usagi said a bit teasingly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luna asked dryly.
"Now now, let's not start," Ami sighed, defusing this before it started, before she turned to Minako. "Now that we've found you…or rather you came to us, what are we planning to do next?"
"Honestly? Not much of a change from the current plan," Minako sighed. "We need to recover the other Rainbow Crystals and with them recover the Silver Crystal. While we may or may not be able to defeat the Dark Kingdom without the Silver Crystal, if THEY get it, we'll definitely lose," she frowned.
"Because they'd find a way to tap into its power and turn the world to darkness or something along those lines." Shingo said "It's kinda bad guy 101 in manga."
"That was more or less the plan after using its power to revive Metalia as far as I was aware, yes." Nephrite said with a nod.
"Speaking of which, since we'll have to bite the bullet sooner or later…where IS the Dark Kingdom located?" Kensuke asked.
"I'm mildly surprised you didn't ask sooner," Nephrite chuckled a bit.
"To be fair we figured it was better if we waited till we had MORE people before getting to that." Usagi said with a slight laugh.
"Fair." Nephrite said with a nod "And it's in the North Pole."
You could hear a pin drop in the ensuing silence. "...joy…I've always wanted to see polar bears in their natural habitat…in person," Kelch said sarcastically.
"So…you know a way for us to get there faster or do I need to start making phone calls to start preparing?" Kensuke sighed.
"There is a way, but as things are now, I'm not sure I'll be able to access it anymore," Nephrite sighed.
"Got it, time to start pulling some strings," Kensuke sighed, already mentally going over what he'd likely have to do next.
Elsewhere…
In a dark lab, Kujaku stood, observing the large, shifting mass of the main Mold Undead "They were helpful initially… but it's clear the Riders and Scouts can handle them with ease now, and it'll only get easier for them if they get to the Polar Bear Undead."
"Then it's good the next step is finished." another voice spoke, making Kujaku turn to see a woman with long, unkempt red hair, dark skin, and red eyes, wearing a labcoat over her body "They're ready." she said with a mad grin.
Kujaku smirked at that, before he followed her "Truly, your work is terrifying my dear Tabitha." he said as he followed her through the lab.
"What can I say? Thanks to you providing the raw materials, it's easy to finally do what they all claimed was impossible." she said with a wide grin, soon reaching an operating table, on which another Undead was laying, a very clear snake theme on its body, with even a snake going down the back of its head "Meet the Snake Undead. Smarter than most of the rabble. In terms of power, I'd say at the moment it's on par with a Category 8."
Kujaku laughed "Ah… Serpent is going to be pissed if she ever finds out about this." he spoke "And? The new grunts?"
Tabitha smirked, holding up a remote and pressing a button on it, a light turning on behind a nearby window, causing Kujaku to go up to it… and he saw a large number of identical Undead moving about aimlessly in the large, sandy room with ankle deep water, their bodies covered in hard armor with what looked like long legs coming out from under the armor and wrapping around them.
"The Horseshoe Crab was the perfect animal to base these on. Far more resilient than mold, though like the Mold Undead, they won't leave behind a body upon destruction. It wouldn't do to let the Riders analyze them after all." Tabitha explained "In terms of power, at best they're comparable to a Category 2, but they ARE just meant to be grunts."
"And how are you making them so easily?" Kujaku asked in honest curiosity.
Tabitha simply smirked, before pointing towards the ceiling of the room, where he saw an overgrown Horseshoe Crab hanging off of it, motionless.
"Same concept as the Mold if you will, that there is their own 'progenitor' that will spawn them." she explained.
Kujaku smirked at that "Good. Keep up what you're doing then. And don't forget to be ready to collect the data from the Snake Undead."
"Of course. It's going to be quite the interesting experiment once it's all ready." she said with a small, crazed laugh.
Kujaku chuckled "Truly, you humans are some of the most terrifying creatures on the planet." he said, before moving to the Snake Undead, holding a hand over it, before the Undead suddenly gasped as it surged up, sitting on the table, before it spotted him and got off the table, taking a knee before him.
"Orderssss" the Undead hissed out.
Kujaku rose an eyebrow at that, turning back to Tabitha curiously, to which she grinned "I figured giving it vocal chords, even if it doesn't speak much, would make things easier… and it might freak out the Riders too." she said with a laugh.
Kujaku snorted at that "It might." he said, turning back to the Snake Undead "Come with me, we'll go and add a more wild element to whatever plan Zoisite is cooking up." he said, earning a nod from his fellow Undead as it got up and started following him through a dark portal that appeared in the lab.
Once they were gone, Tabitha chuckled darkly "Oh, what fun this experiment shall be." she said, turning to a computer which showed an image of what looked like the Blay Buckle.
Zoisite looked at the cauldron that was glowing ominously. He waited for a moment before something emerged, revealing to be the Black Crystal now glowing with new power. "Perfect, the improvements are done," he said as he took hold of the crystal. Now that all seven Rainbow Crystals had been found, technically the Crystal's use was at its end, but he'd decided it still had some uses, and thus he'd modified it to be able to turn humans into Youma. Yes, with this, Kunzite would…
At the thought, Zoisite grit his teeth a bit. "How frustrating…even if I do this, he isn't looking my way," he grumbled, remembering how Kunzite desired to gather all the Rainbow Crystals so that he could see Queen Beryl's smile once more.
"Am I interrupting something?" came Kujaku's voice as Zoisite turned to see the Undead in human form casually leaning against the wall.
"What do you want?" Zoisite growled in annoyance.
Kujaku snorted "Relax. I figured you were going to start up another plan, so I brought my new toys with me." he said, walking ahead, to which the Snake Undead walked out of the shadows.
Zoisite rose an eyebrow at the Undead "Well, it's new, I'll give you that… stronger than the Mold?"
"Much stronger yes. I've even got new, more durable grunts to go along with him as he'll command them." Kujaku said with a smirk.
"Well you've been busy. What brought this on?" Zoisite frowned a little.
"Well, it IS rather annoying watching the Molds be repeatedly destroyed," Kujaku shrugged. "Besides, whatever reason I have, does it really matter? It's not like I particularly care about vying for Queen Beryl's favor."
"...I suppose it doesn't," Zoisite said. He did NOT trust Kujaku…but there was no denying the Undead's help had proven…beneficial. "At any rate, I imagine I don't need to say what my next plan is."
"Well yeah, you DO need to get the Rainbow Crystals you didn't manage to capture. Question is, who are you going for first?" Kujaku snorted, enjoying the annoyed look Zoisite got when he mentioned the failures.
"I'll worry about the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Kamen later. For now, I believe it's best if we remind a certain group of their place," Zoisite said, right as an image of V1 appeared.
"Well then, I guess my new toys were finished just in time," Kujaku smirked.
"Are we sure this is going to work?" one officer asked, as the Rainbow Crystal was placed into a small safe, the safe's door closed and locked up tight a moment later.
"It will." Aki said seriously, looking at the safe, the small group of officers currently in the police station's vault "It'll block any signals the crystal emits and keep them contained within, so that Dark Kingdom place won't be able to detect it."
"Still, kinda hard to believe we're going along with what some vigilantes are saying." another officer said, looking unsure.
"The Riders and Scouts have been keeping this city safe so far, haven't they?" Aki shot back "They're trusting us to protect the crystal, because clearly they need it, but they want to handle the Dark Kingdom first."
"Personally I trust the heroes more than I do the top brass." a third officer snorted "Bunch of idiots thinking about making a super soldier with the crystal, but then they can't even do jack shit… hope Shin's doing ok with them probably laying into him."
"He'll be fine in the end… I made sure he's irreplaceable." Aki said with a knowing smirk.
As she said that, in another room…
"You are without a doubt one of if not the most reckless officers to ever set foot in this precinct!" a shout could be heard in the room, as Shin was currently standing in the middle of the room, before him was a table with three people behind it, one of said people standing up and doing the shouting. "If it were up to me, I would have your Badge for what you pulled!"
Despite himself, Shin stood his ground, and keeping his voice level… "With all due respect, sir…I did not believe potentially sowing bad blood between us and the Sailor Scouts as well as the Kamen Riders would have been wise. Even with the V1 System, they know more about the Dark Kingdom than we do, as well as what the Crystals are. The fact they were willing to allow us to protect the Crystal we'd already secured I believe is a show of trust on their side as well."
"We don't need those vigilan-" his boss started, before Shin gave him a hard look.
"We do." he said, cutting the man off "Without them, the death tolls in the Minato Ward would already be well into the thousands, and we wouldn't have obtained the means to create the V1 System in the first place. This city NEEDS them, without a doubt."
"He does make a good point," one of the other two sitting down pointed out, clearly more level headed than the one reading Shin the riot act.
"Furthermore," the other one said. "It won't do us any good to make any rash decisions. Due to the rushed sortie, according to Dr. Karakuri, the V1 System is genetically locked to Officer Takayuki, and it seems the program to disengage the lock was lost. As such, until further notice Officer Takayuki will remain as the user of the V1 System."
As he said that nobody noticed a nearby assistant stifling a cough, said assistant remembering how Aki had 'accidentally' deleted the program. Yeah…the glass of water spilling was TOTALLY an accident…
The first one looked like he wanted to argue, but ultimately he couldn't deny their points. "Very well. Still, Officer Takayuki, if you pull anything like that again…"
"I won't…provided my next orders aren't something that might be counter productive to keeping the people safe," Shin said simply.
The first one grit his teeth at that, the hidden message quite clear in Shin's words "Just… get out of here."
Shin wordlessly saluted and left the room, leaving the higher ups to discuss what to do next. Once he was out of the room though…he let out a long sigh, feeling his legs go a bit weak. Even if he'd put up a brave front, that was still rather nerve wracking. For now though it seemed he'd be safe as long as they needed V1. Something that hopefully wouldn't change anytime soon. At least until they all saw reason rather than let their pride do the talking.
With that in mind, he soon made his way back to where the V1 system was undergoing routine maintenance. Looking at the V1 armor he couldn't help but think how crazy everything had gotten all of a sudden…and more importantly, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the start of even more trials.
"Glad to see you survived," Aki said as she entered the room.
"Thanks to you I imagine," Shin sighed. "So the crystal is secure?"
"It should be. Now we just need to focus on keeping it safe. Still, it makes me uneasy knowing we're potentially waiting for an attack from basically a huge terrorist group." Aki sighed "You know, if terrorists had access to monsters and magic."
"That's a terrifying thought." Shin grimaced "Still, we've got to hope that things come to an end soon. The people in the city are starting to get restless."
"Not just the people." Aki said in concern "I've heard that those in power are starting to get antsy with how bold some of the Dark Kingdom have been acting, like back when that Jadeite guy showed up in the sky and cast an illusion over the city."
"I HOPE we don't have another incident like that. I don't even want to imagine the kind of damage control we have to-" Shin started but was cut off when they heard something.
"...that doesn't sound good," Aki blinked as suddenly the building shook and there was shouting they could hear. On top of that, the radio came on, and well…
"Are you serious?! Monsters are attacking EVERY Police Station through the Ward?!" Shin gasped.
"We're not doing so great either," Aki frowned, as she tapped into the security cameras…and saw that monsters had broken into the front desk. "I'd say you'd better suit up…but I'm not too confident how well V1 will actually hold up against that many of them…"
"It's never going to be a matter of 'if'." Shin said seriously as he went for the armor, suiting up quickly "No matter the odds… I WILL fight them." he said, before quickly rushing towards the front desk area.
Aki frowned in worry at that, but didn't stop him, simply turning on the systems so she could try to support him…right after she closed the door and barricaded herself in. It'd be a problem if the enemy got their hands on the support system after all. However, right as she was booting up the system, she reached into her pocket and drew out a compact mirror, which she opened up…before removing the spot for makeup to reveal a blue spade which she pressed on, causing it to glow. "The Rainbow Crystal is here. I'll do what I can to keep it safe, but that won't last long if we don't get some help." she said, before letting go and storing the mirror away. It was time to get to work.
Meanwhile…
"...okay, what does it say that we're honestly not sure how to do this short of either attacking their base head on, or hoping that Zoisite is carrying the Crystals on him next time we see him?" Kensuke groaned.
"The last part being HIGHLY unlikely for that matter," Nephrite added 'helpfully'.
"I think it says the universe is intent on enforcing that villains act and then us heroes have to react," Artemis deadpanned.
"That or that we take the fight to them." Kelch said with a sigh.
"Well we could PROBABLY borrow some choppers from the White Tigers." Kensuke muttered thoughtfully.
Usagi glanced at her friend slowly at that "Are you gonna tell us that the western tribe has some contacts in the military?"
"Sorta? They have contacts with people who MAKE choppers for the military, so close enough." Kensuke said with a shrug.
"In short, it seems we'll be confronting them a bit sooner than we were hoping for," Ami sighed.
"We had a time frame?" Makoto blinked.
"I assumed we all hoped that we'd at least deal with all the Dark Generals first before we had to take the fight to the Dark Kingdom," Ami sighed.
"That was what we were hoping to achieve too." Minako sighed "We did deal with a 'sub-general' though if you will a while back, just me and Kelch."
Nephrite blinked at that "Ah, so that was you then. That explains it."
The others looked at the pair, to which they just shrugged and said "Long story."
Any further conversation was cut short when Kensuke felt something in his pocket, reaching into it and pulling out a small square mirror. The moment he saw it, his eyes widened, and quickly pressed the spade symbol on the mirror.
"The Rainbow Crystal is here. I'll do what I can to keep it safe, but that won't last long if we don't get some help."
"Wait, you're- nevermind, I'll ask another time. We're on our way!" he answered quickly before putting the mirror away.
"What was that?" Rei asked in concern.
"Emergency contact method, that was another member of the tribe. The signal was being sent from the central police station, so we should check real quick." he answered, to which Kelch went and grabbed the TV remote, quickly flipping it to the news, before he paled slightly.
"Ah… shit." he swore "The Dark Kingdom got bold… looks like they're using some new kind of mook Undead to attack all the stations in the area."
"We know where the Rainbow Crystal is, but we can't exactly ignore the other stations either," Rei frowned.
"In short…" Usagi groaned.
"We need to split up," Minako finished for her.
"I don't believe I need to say it, but that would put us at a disadvantage, especially for the team going after the Rainbow Crystal. Zoisite will most certainly appear there once its location has been confirmed," Nephrite said.
"True, but we can't just let the police stations get overrun either." Ami said with a frown.
"In other words, even if it puts us at a disadvantage, we're going to do this," Makoto said firmly.
"Alright then, let's quickly decide who goes where," Minako said as Ami quickly double checked the details.
"Alright, there are three major Police Stations being hit, and as we know, the central station is where the Rainbow Crystal is," Ami frowned.
"In that case we'll send a bigger team to that spot. Make sure the crystal is safe," Kelch mused.
"I'm taking the Central Station. Aside from the Crystal, I can't leave my fellow Tribe member to fend for themselves," Kensuke said.
"I'll go with since if the Dark Kingdom shows up, they might have a way to corrupt other people into monsters for all we know." Usagi added, already grasping at her brooch.
"I shall go as well. I still need to get back at Zoisite after all." Nephrite said as he stood up.
"In that case… here." Kensuke said, pulling something out of his clothes, revealing a white, featureless mask that left the mouth exposed "Best to hide your face since there's going to be a LOT of cops."
Nephrite nodded, accepting the mask and putting it on his face, before he snapped his fingers, his clothes changing, turning into what looked to be his old Dark Kingdom outfit, but now white in color.
"Alright then, we have two more Stations to assist. Who goes where?" Ami asked.
"Minako and I are a solid team, so I think it'd be best if we stick together for one of the Stations," Kelch said.
"That should be alright. We're quite used to working with each other as well," Rei said, earning a nod from Makoto and Ami.
"And Shingo and I will hold the fort of course." Naru said, smiling a bit "I may be practicing my shields, but it's definitely not enough to help yet."
"Don't worry, you'll be able to do more eventually." Nephrite assured her with an encouraging smile.
"Alright then, let's go," Usagi said as everyone got moving.
"I always wanted to scratch off 'zombie apocalypse' off the bucket list," V1 deadpanned sarcastically…as he really DID feel like he was in the middle of a zombie movie. All around him were the various monsters that had been unleashed, shambling about like zombies, and here he was the only person able to fight back as he opened fire, gunning them down, yet unlike in the movies…these things were able to handle a LOT more punishment it seemed.
As he was thinking that, slowly backing up as the monsters kept advancing, some kind of energy blast suddenly raced down into a large grouping of them, blowing up and sending them flying back, even destroying a couple of them.
(Play Kakusei by Ricky)
"Kujaku has certainly been busy with these," Nephrite commented as he, Blade, and Sailor Moon had forced their way in, taking out more of the Mook Undead as they did. However, while these ones didn't seem to regenerate the way the Molds did, they were in turn clearly much tougher.
"Well, considering how we basically know how to deal with the Molds now, it's really not THAT surprising all things considered," Blade sighed.
"You okay?" Sailor Moon asked V1.
"Doing good, but glad to have you all here. The other stations are under attack as well though." V1 said.
"Don't worry, we saw the news, we split up into a few teams." Blade told him, before cutting another Undead apart, humming a bit as he looked at them "Are these… Horseshoe Crabs?"
"They do look somewhat like that." Nephrite said thoughtfully "Clearly Kujaku decided it was time to upgrade."
"Compared to the molds, these guys ARE a lot tougher," Sailor Moon agreed.
"So these things are new?" V1 reconfirmed, earning a few nods. "Great…and they decided to test it on us," he groaned.
"I assume you know what they're after," Nephrite checked, earning a quick nod.
"Yeah, the Crystal is locked up tight. They haven't gotten in yet but…with these numbers it's only a matter of time," V1 frowned.
"Did you evacuate the station?" Blade asked him.
"Only the swat operatives are left in the open areas, all other personnel either left or locked themselves up in sealed rooms." V1 told him.
"Then maybe we should guard the Crystal? If they find it sooner or later they could steal it while we're busy somewhere else," Sailor Moon suggested.
"We should be fine. They'd need one hell of a bomb in order to-" V1 was saying but was abruptly cut off by an explosion going off somewhere deeper in the building.
"...like that?" Blade and Sailor Moon asked a bit lamely.
"Yeah…like that…" V1 groaned before he took off for the source, the three following after him since the Undead in the front were dealt with as they talked.
The sound of gunfire soon reached their ears as they approached their destination, finding a SWAT team opening fire on a squad of Horseshoe Crabs, the pseudo Undead while some were staggered from the shots, ultimately continued pressing forward, getting closer and closer to the SWAT team, yet they stood their ground in front of the vault. The vault V1 knew was where the Rainbow Crystal was contained.
"How did they even get in this far so quickly?" he couldn't help but ask, before he started to open fire on the Undeads.
"Uh… probably Zoisite." Blade said, pointing, V1 turning his head to see the effeminate man floating off near a large hole in the wall.
"Of course." Nephrite frowned, before he gathered energy in his hands, shaping it into a spear "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to handle him before he tries anything else." he said, before leaping ahead, thrusting the spear out suddenly, Zoisite barely managing to lean back and avoid being stabbed.
"Nephrite, somehow I'm not surprised." Zoisite said with a narrowed gaze, creating a sword of ice in his hand "Still playing human are we?"
"Call it whatever you want." Nephrite said "I've simply decided to do what's right from now on. Besides, Metalia won't win in the end, call it a gut feeling."
That caused Zoisite to momentarily freeze, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Even if Nephrite had turned his back on the Dark Kingdom, for someone who had been a Dark General to say that was…honestly insane. The surprise gave Nephrite the perfect opening to aim to skewer Zoisite with his spear and he would have done just that…if not for the sword that suddenly came in, cutting through his spear with ease.
"Really now Zoisite?" Kujaku seemed actually a little baffled by the reaction that had happened. "I suppose it IS surprising, but we are in the middle of a fight."
Nephrite quickly moved back, creating another spear which he quickly used to block the feathers that Kujaku fired at him. "Since when did you get particularly invested?" he growled at the Undead.
"Oh, not so much as interested as I just got bored today." Kujaku said with a smirk.
"Do you have ANY motivation other than that?" Blade asked somewhat morbidly…right as a mini-rocket flew through the air and hit Kujaku who was caught by surprise and actually sent the Undead flying back for now.
Everyone blinked at that, and looked to the source, revealing to be V1, shouldering the now smoking launcher. "What? I saw an opening."
"Yep…should have known it was her…" Blade muttered under his breath, holding the front of his helmet in his hand, giving the impression of a facepalm.
"Uh…are you okay?" Sailor Moon blinked at the reaction.
"I'm fine…I just figured out something…I'll have to deal with another day. For now, take out the Undead!" Blade ordered.
"Don't think it'll be THAT easy!" Zoisite said, having regained his nerve, and threw the Black Crystal forward with a 'Zoi!'. The crystal glowed before firing a blast that hit one of the SWAT Members present. The moment it did, he shouted in pain as he was covered with energy and began to transform. He grew larger, and his body shifted, looking like he was fusing with his uniform, and the end result was a blue skinned Youma with 'armor' that resembled a SWAT uniform, their riot shield having become a straight up tower shield, and his riot baton had turned into a mace…one that he was brandishing menacingly. "Keider!" he roared before swinging his mace wildly, throwing the SWAT team into complete disarray.
"Wait you can just do that now?!" Sailor Moon gasped in shock.
"What, don't like the little upgrade I gave the Black Crystal? I felt it was only fitting to give you humans a better use." Zoisite said with a laugh.
"You're a real piece of work." Blade growled.
"One that I'll deal with myself!" Nephrite said as he suddenly threw his energy spear, Zoisite dodging it, only for the spear to explode as it passed by him, sending him back a bit.
"Alright, we'll leave him to you then," V1 said, before turning to Blade and Sailor Moon. "I assume your usual means can cure him?"
"It should," Sailor Moon nodded, taking out the Moon Stick. "But we'll need to weaken him a bit first. If we don't then I can't promise it'll work."
"Alright. Let's do this," V1 said, drawing his jutte and aiming it at the SWAT member turned Youma, while the SWAT members who were still conscious after the sudden attack quickly regrouped around V1. However, as if in response, the Youma slammed his mace against his shield, before rushing towards the armor officer, who shot at the shield a few times before stabbing forward with his jutte, slamming right into the shield.
The SWAT members weren't idle either, as they opened fire on any remaining Horseshoe Undead, and while the damage wasn't the most effective, it made an opening for Blade to move in and cut through them, making sure to keep them off of V1 who was busy fending off the Youma, V1 mainly on the defensive as he had to evade the mace strikes while trying to hit any openings he found. The Tower Shield was REALLY annoying like that. Even so between them working together, and that Zoisite being kept busy, they could be o-
Something abruptly flew through the air and hit the wall (conveniently squashing one of the Horseshoes), though that something revealed to be Nephrite, who'd managed to encase himself in a barrier before impact. "Sorry, but Kujaku recovered from your surprise attack," Nephrite grunted, holding his arm a little as he dismissed the barrier.
Kujaku growled a bit as he floated back into the building "You humans really know how to be annoying." he said, rubbing his face a bit, before holding his hand up "Let's see how you handle this then." he said as he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, striking out of the shadows was a figure that managed to hit Blade, sending him stumbling back a bit, a hand going to his chest as he looked up… only to freeze in shock "That's-!"
"Blade… kill…!" the Snake Undead hissed out, and the first thing Blade noticed was that this one had a buckle unlike the previous fake Undeads.
"No way…she's here too…?!" Blade gasped in shock, an opening that allowed the new Undead to lash out, snakes extending from its arms which hit Blade right in the chest, slamming him into a wall, before the Undead lumbered over to him, repeating the same words it said before.
However, its progress was impeded by something flying right at it, hitting it right in the face, causing it to stumble back as it found Sailor Moon's Tiara on its head…right before the tiara glowed as it felt a surge of energy go through it, causing it to hiss in pain as it grabbed at the tiara, and after some effort, ripped it off, the tiara soon vanishing and reappearing back with Sailor Moon.
That however served to draw the Undead's attention which went straight for her, Sailor Moon moving quickly, inwardly thanking all the training they'd been doing because she was pretty sure once upon a time she wouldn't be dodging this well…or at least it'd involve a LOT more tripping over herself and sheer dumb luck. Either way, right now she focused more on NOT getting chunks of herself bitten off by the killer snake monster. Even so, a part of her was… frustrated. She was always mostly on the defensive, relying on the others to do most of the fighting for her thanks to her being the worst at hand to hand, and only having her tiara to inflict damage. She wanted to be able to do MORE!
The moment she thought that, a glow manifested behind her tiara, while her Moon Stick floated forward and actually blocked a snake that had gotten a bit close to her. The Undead recoiled in surprise, before the Moon Stick glowed brightly, and started to expand, growing longer and the crescent moon grew bigger as well, and before long, Sailor Moon found herself looking at less a Moon Stick and more a Moon Staff.
She blinked… several times at that "That… you know what, I can work with that." she finally said, gripping the staff properly, spinning it around a bit before holding it at the ready.
As she did, Blade had finally gotten his bearings back, staring at the fight in front of him before he frowned behind his mask "That Undead… it's barely spoken beyond a few single words… if it really WAS her she'd have started taunting us a while ago… and she'd never agree to take orders from a Category Jack." he said, gasping as he realized what this meant "It's a fake then! It just looks like the Serpent Undead!"
"Indeed. Though it certainly had you fooled for a while there." Kujaku snorted "My Snake Undead is stronger than the generic foot soldiers we've made so far, but it's no Royal."
"I'll have to admit, that was quite a trick. But now that you've literally confirmed it's another fake you've made…" Blade frowned before charging forward, striking at the Snake who was still focused on Sailor Moon.
The Snake hissed angrily as it stumbled forward…right into a swing from Sailor Moon. "I can fight more directly too now!" she added as the Undead was bounced right back to Blade.
"Don't know where the new staff came from, but not complaining," Blade chuckled. However, the Snake Undead wasn't about to let things be so easy, and quickly lashed out snakes at both of them, forcing them back and giving itself some breathing room.
Meanwhile, Nephrite had opted to help V1, creating blades of energy that he launched at the Youma from various angles. It still felt a bit strange to be fighting against a Youma, but he wasn't going to lose sleep over it. What was still requiring some getting used to though was…avoiding lethal shots. Though if nothing else…this Youma made from a human was quick on his defense, as the tower shield quickly blocked his shots…which left it open to getting jabs from V1 who likewise was purposely using a minimal loadout. It was hardly efficient…but they were little by little whittling away at the Youma. Seeing that, Nephrite created a number of spears and fired them down in a way that caused the Youma's movements to temporarily stall. "I think they should be weakened enough. Get Sailor Moon quickly while I hold it in place," he ordered.
"Right!" V1 nodded, turning and moving towards the other fight, firing on the Snake Undead, causing it to reel back as it tried to break Sailor Moon's new staff "The Youma should be restorable now!" he said to her.
"Got it." she nodded, turning and rushing back to the fight with the Youma as she shrunk her staff back into the Moon Stick, reaching it just as Nephrite blinded the Youma with a flash of light "Perfect timing. Moon Healing Escalation!" she called out as she spun the Moon Stick around, releasing the purifying energies, not only restoring the Youma to the officer he was before, but also causing the weakened Horseshoe Crab Undeads to melt into a puddle that evaporated away.
"Now that THAT'S dealt with," Blade frowned, looking at the Snake, before fanning out his cards. Sure a part of him thought he should save this for Kujaku, but right now this one took priority. With that in mind he grabbed three cards and immediately started scanning them.
Slash! Thunder! Mach!
"Lightning Step!" he shouted as he suddenly rushed ahead, appearing like a blue blur, slashing past the Snake Undead as the electricity flowed into it, causing it to spasm before falling to the ground, exploding into green flames, to which Blade turned back to it, seeing the buckle open… through he didn't see any number or symbol within, more like an unfinished shape as he reached for his common blanks, but…
(end song)
A card flew through the air, sucking up the Snake Undead, before flying back, Blade following it to see the Rouze Card in Kujaku's hand.
"Thanks for that. You participated in this test run exactly as I'd hoped," Kujaku chuckled, flipping the card through his fingers and making it disappear. "For your reward…" he said, before suddenly a burst of petals appeared next to him, to which he reached into it and pulled out…
"Oh you sick bastards…" Blade growled as in Kujaku's arms was a little girl, who was unsurprisingly crying in terror at not only being in the grasp of a monster, but also floating in mid-air.
"I'm not one to go into monologues, so let's just cut to the chase. This brat's life for the Rainbow Crystal. Capiche?" Kujaku said curtly.
Blade gripped his fist tightly at that, before turning to V1 "Just… just tell the bastards where it is."
V1 frowned beneath his helmet, nodding as he kept his eyes on the child "It's right below us, kept in a safe inside of a larger vault."
"Okay, you heard him," Kujaku said to seemingly no one in particular. There was a pause before he continued as if he was in a conversation. "Don't get greedy. We got time," he said before shaking his head in annoyance.
"You've gotten what you want, so let her go!" Sailor Moon shouted.
Kujaku paused…before chuckling. "Poor choice of words, girl," he said. There was a pause and everyone's eyes widened in horror before Kujaku quite literally let the girl go.
The little girl screamed in terror as she fell, and Blade was about to use Time Scarab…if not for someone else zipping through the air, and managing to grab the girl, said someone revealing to be Tuxedo Kamen, the man carefully holding on to the girl who'd fainted.
Blade let out a sigh of relief "Thank god… perfect timing man."
"I try my best." Tuxedo Kamen nodded "I was watching the whole fight in case you needed help… I can't say I blame you all for giving up the crystal in this situation."
"Yeah… hate it when bad guys force our hand like that." Sailor Moon frowned…and resisting every urge to sink to her knees in relief that her apparent poor choice or words hadn't caused the worst to happen.
"Well now, aren't you just a killjoy," Kujaku snorted. "Hm…come to think of it, seeing as you're unaffiliated…I'm willing to bet you might be carrying a Crystal or two on you," he said as he looked at Tuxedo Kamen who still had the girl. "Let's find ou-" his words were cut off when something suddenly swooped in…and cut his wings clean off, leaving Kujaku to plummet and hit the ground with a crash.
"Cowardly as always I see. No, I believe you've gotten WORSE since we last met," a new voice snorted as everyone turned to see what had just sent Kujaku falling out of the sky and well…
"Oh boy…this night just keeps getting better and better…" Blade groaned at the sight of yet another Undead, this one with talon-like blades on his forearms, his face reminiscent of a beak, with wings coming out of his back, keeping him afloat "Category Jack of Spades… Eagle Undead."
"Not another one," V1 groaned, readying his gun.
"You can put that away. I have no interest in fighting an opponent that's already exhausted themselves," the Eagle Undead said, folding his arms in front of him. "I simply came to deal with a certain eyesore."
"And I see you're as high and mighty as ever," Kujaku snarled in actual annoyance as he was clearly glaring at the Eagle Undead. "Whatever, I'm done for tonight. Enjoy playing the honor game as much as you like. I guarantee it will end with you Sealed away once again," he spat before he soon vanished into a portal that appeared nearby.
Eagle snorted "Even if I end up sealed, I will accept it if I was defeated in a duel of honor." he said, before turning to Blade "As much as I wish our duel could be now, I'd rather fight you when at full strength. We WILL meet again, Blade." he said, before flying back up and away.
At this point everyone FINALLY sighed in momentary relief. "I was honestly worried we'd have to fight a Category Jack for a moment there," Blade sighed.
"Too bad Zoisite probably got the Rainbow Crystal by now," Sailor Moon sighed, figuring Zoisite had probably teleported into the vault the moment he heard that was where the Crystal was.
"It's regrettable, but not all is lost yet." Tuxedo Kamen said, carrying the young girl in his arms, passing her to an officer who was still standing, making the man blink in confusion "I still have my crystal, and you all have two of your own. If we can hold out with them for a while still, we should be able to strike at the Dark Kingdom."
"Yeah, I'm already planning on putting some calls in to get some assistance." Blade said with a nod, before turning to V1, who seemed to be disappointed if his posture was any indication "Hey, don't feel too bad about it. They basically had a gun to our heads to force us to comply."
"I know, it's just… you trusted that crystal to us, yet they came to snag it from us almost right away… I feel like we failed you." V1 said with a sigh.
"I wouldn't say you failed, just that you didn't expect the Dark Kingdom to be so bold in their attack." Sailor Moon told him reassuringly "Besides, we know you'll just keep on firing at them until you take em out in the future." she said playfully.
V1 snorted a bit "Most likely I will, yes."
"For now let's just focus on what our next move is gonna be. As for me…I'm gonna need to…make some serious plans considering what just happened," Blade said, sighing at the end.
"Considering that Undead all but declared war on you? I can imagine," Tuxedo Kamen grimaced before everyone went their separate ways for now, though not before checking on the others who soon reported that their enemies had either been defeated or withdrew roughly around the time.
It was time to prepare to bring the fight to them. If this kept up, they stood to lose more ground than gain it.
And there!
Yeah, quite a few things going on, such as the reveal that someone's been helping Kujaku make his artificial undeads, the debut of Artemis, an early appearance of the Eagle Undead, and the Dark Kingdom getting VERY bold.
Yeah, things are about to kick into high gear soon, so look forward to it!
Rouse Card Count:
Blade:
Spade: Ace, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Club: 3, 7
Chalice:
Heart: Ace, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
Diamond: 2
Garren:
Diamond: Ace, 6
Rainbow Crystal Tracker:
Dark Kingdom: Red, Green, Indigo, Blue
Sailor Scouts and Kamen Riders: Yellow, Violet
Tuxedo Kamen: Orange
Police: None