OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of these guys are mine. The Sailor Senshi belong to DIC and Kodansha, while the Yoroiden are owned by Sunrise and Graz Entertainment. Okay? So don't bother suing me. I'm a student. RONIN SUMMER 3 : SHELL GAME A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com) "It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine!" -Great Big Sea Part 10 : The Return Of The King Sailor Jupiter raced across the barren courtyard of Kayura's former castle, deftly avoiding the fallen, smoking bodies of youja and youma, daimons and spirits, all alike in their death. Her eyes were seeking out only one form among the hundreds littering the ground, a figure in deep blue armour who was apparently having a seizure. Sliding to a stop by the fearsome, spasmodic body, she gripped the creature's terrible skull by the gleaming, golden horns sprouting from its brows and pulled with all her might, wrenching the helmet free from its owner's head. Touma Hashiba wheezed in relief and sagged against the tall brunette Senshi, his short blue hair matted with the sweat that still poured down his face. He looked like someone who had just run a marathon in cement shoes, and been brutally attacked at the finish line by all the other competitors. "Makoto..." Touma's voice was little more than a trembling whisper, but he nonetheless struggled to continue. "Makoto... where... Arago... Have to... can't... stop... We can't..." "Hush." Makoto Kino placed her white gloved fingers against the boy genius' mouth, then, after a moment's thought, replaced them with her own lips, kissing him tenderly. "It's all right, Touma. I'm right here. I'll take care of you." Nearby, she saw Minako Aino doing her best to soothe Seiji Date, who was trying to struggle to his feet. "No, Seiji! Lie down, you need to rest..." "I'm fine, Mina-chan!" The blond man in the green yoroi answered, doubling his efforts to rise, "I can rest when I'm dead! I need my sword! He's coming for me!" Minako easily pushed him back down to the ground, and Makoto sighed. Even though Sailor Venus was stronger than she looked, there was no way she should be able to manhandle the Yoroiden of Korin like that. Despite his words, Seiji looked about as strong as a kitten. Rei Hino lifted the Yoroiden of Suiko, Shin Mouri, and popped his helmet off with enough force to send it skidding away like some giant metal top. Shin immediately sagged back down, and the sable-haired Sailor Mars was hard pressed to hold his heavy armoured form off of the ground. "Rei... Seiji's right." Shin lifted his head slowly and looked over at his friend. "He's coming for us all. We can feel it." "Who is, Shin? Who is coming?" Rei slowly found both Shin and herself sinking to the ground, as neither had the strength to keep him upright. As they crumpled onto the broken flagstones of the courtyard, he answered her. "Arago. The Demon Lord. Conquerer of worlds, Emperor of the Dynasty, and enslaver of souls." Kayura, former Empress of the Dynasty, stood leaning on her shakujo staff, its interlocking rings stirring in the breeze and clanging off of each other like crystalline bells. Her waist long ebony hair swirled behind her, and the deep green and yellow overcoat she wore flapped loudly around her body. "Even now, his foul taint pervades this realm." With a gesture, the young girl pointed to the swirling, angry crimson skies, shot through and through with veins of black. "The heavens themselves scream in agony at his arrival." A peal of thunder broke forth at the sound of her words, though not a cloud could be seen. Usagi Tsukino gulped and started biting her fingernails. "So, uhm... are we in trouble?" "Yes, Sailor Moon," Kayura said solemnly, as the skies continued to rail with unnatural purple lightning and the wind howled like a wolf on the prowl, "we are in a great deal of trouble." ********** Badamon, leader of the Ankoku Priests, watched in apprehension as the creature once known as Ryo Sanada slowly rose from the table that he had been tied to. Gradually the thick, silvery cables of hair that had been holding him in place stretched and snapped like dental floss as he regained his feet and looked down at his hands. I HAVE HANDS AGAIN... 'Ryo' noted in a deep, sepulchral voice. HOW... SATISFYING. Experimentally, 'Ryo' opened and closed his hands, feeling the nearly forgotten sensation of his fingers flexing and rubbing against each other. INDEED. Next in his regimen was to slowly stretch every muscle in his new body, ruthlessly pulling and twisting until every creature in the room could hear his tendons creaking. He looked down at the torn and blood encrusted white sweater he wore and with a sharp tug, ripped it off. Holding the crumpled white shirt in one hand and a gleaming ceremonial blade in the other, he tilted his head at an unnatural angle and slowly popped it, arching his back and cracking each vertebrae in succession. "Master?" Badamon slowly glided forward, his tattered black Confucian robes rustling around him as he approached his lord. "Is... is the Sanada child to your liking?" The handsome young man with the shoulder length mane of black hair grinned devilishly. OF A CERTAINTY, MY PRIEST. SANADA PROVED... DELICIOUS. Badamon then noticed that 'Ryo's' eyes were little more than gleaming black orbs, devoid of any pupil or iris. The man smiled again, and his mouth was filled not with teeth, but with jagged, rusty fangs. AN EXCELLENT CHOICE, INDEED. "I am pleased that you are pleased, my master." Badamon bowed and scraped, and hated himself for being so afraid of the creature before him. And yet, he admitted to himself, he had arranged for this ressurection. Better an oppressor than a just ruler, the priest reminded himself. An oppressor could give Badamon exactly what he wanted : the world. Not it's countries, or resources, as Arago lusted after, but its people. Their suffering would be delicious under the boot of the Demon Lord, and Badamon would use their tortured souls for his own dealings. The Death Phantom offered much, after all, and asked for little that Badamon was reluctant to give. It had once been said that a wise man could serve two rulers, and Badamon had always thought of himself as a wise man... BADAMON, SUMMON THE TROOPS. 'Ryo' threw his sweater into a corner, and the omnipresent swarm of Ankoku Preists quietly wafted out of the way, returning to their positions like silent gray robed statues. They were, Badamon noted, less a crowd than they were part of the room's decor. WE HAVE A WORLD TO CONQUER, AND I WISH MY YOUJA READY FOR OUR FIRST ASSAULT. "Shall we be attacking the Earth Realm so quickly, Lord Arago? I had thought that the binding spells upon you were still in force. One thousand years, give or take a few centuries..." Badamon flinched slightly. His master's temper was often quite... expressive... and as sudden as it was graphic. To his surprise, the man simply grinned again. SUMMON THE TROOPS, BADAMON. I SHALL BE LEADING MY FORCES INTO TOKYO THIS VERY EVE! BUT FIRST... I MUST SET MY HOUSE IN ORDER. He tapped his nose meaningfully. I SMELL YOROIDEN IN MY CASTLE, BADAMON. SADDLE MY HORSE. ********** The courtyard was hardly the best place to hold a strategy meeting, in Mamoru Chiba's opinion, but since any other option would involve SOMEBODY (namely him) carrying all seven Yoroiden somewhere else, he had quietly conceded the point. Already, the fallen samurai were regaining their strength at an incredible rate, health and vigour flowing through them even as they spoke. Mamoru just hoped that they would be strong enough to fight, when the time came. "All right," Usagi was saying now, clutching her temples and wrinkling her forehead as if she had just been given an Algebra problem to solve, "so this Arago is... what? A vampire?" "Sort of," Kayura admitted, nodding slightly, "but he doesn't drink blood. Arago draws his strength from the negative emotions of the people of Earth. The more misery and turmoil there is in your world, the more powerful he becomes in ours." "Does he have any weaknesses?" Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury, drew a small pocket computer out of thin air and began to type on it. "If I were to scan him, maybe we could come up with a strategy..." "NO!" Seiji reached out and grabbed the computer, smashing it against the ground until it was little more than a pile of loosely connected wires and circuits. "What did you do that for, Seiji?" Ami was in shock, her dumbstruck expression a direct contrast to the blond man's saturnine and eerily calm features. "Arago can control technology. If you were holding that when he attacked, he could make it eat your hands off." "Good catch, Seiji!" Touma said, with a weak smile. "Everybody, quick! Get rid of anything electronic : digital watches, pagers, calculators, anything!" A small pile of items rapidly formed on the ground as everbody began going through their pockets. Minako pulled out her communicator and looked over at the small white cat perched on her shoulder. "I don't know, Artemis... should we really break our communicators?" "Luna can make you new ones, Venus! Just do it!" "Easy for you to say," grumbled a small black cat as Minako and Rei went about slaughtering the devices with their shoes, "I'll be doing backflips until I get dizzy when we get home!" "Hey, at least we'll BE home, pussycat." "I've asked you not to call me that, Artemis." The white tomcat shrugged. "And since when have I ever listened to you, Luna?" Shin rose to his feet and shook his head from side to side. "Wow..." The Yoroiden of Suiko muttered, "I'm not getting dizzy any more! Touma, Shuu, how do you feel?" Touma gingerly levered himself onto his feet and swayed back and forth for a few moments. "Out of balance," he chuckled, "but not out of luck!" Shuu quickly tried a handstand, and followed it up with a forward somersault. "Hey, I'm back, and better than ever! Looks like the effects of that seizure are wearing off!" "Great, guys!" Hotaru Tomoe looked up from where she and Michiru Kaioh sat smashing their cell phones and pagers. "We're going to need all the help we can get, if we're going to make it out of this thing in one piece." Setsuna Meioh, Sailor Pluto, shook back her long green ponytail and smiled cryptically. "We might not..." ********** A heavy, methodic thumping sound filled the courtyard. One by one, each of the Yoroiden and Senshi stopped their work and began looking around to see what all the noise was about. It had been soft at first, barely discernable to the human ear, but was steadily growing louder, almost deafening in volume and maddening in its steady beat. "Guys," Seiji said in a hushed tone, as the constant pounding of hoofbeats surrounded them, "we need a plan." "I've got a plan, Seiji!" Touma snapped. "It's called 'Arago is coming, so let's all run away'!" He looked around at the group. "Seriously! Are we forgetting that there's one thing we can do right now that he can't? GO HOME! I say we go back to Tokyo and call in the police, the army, the Autobots, and anybody else who'll listen to us." There was a moment where nobody spoke. The hoofbeats grew louder. "Let's do it," Kayura finally conceded. "If nothing else, we can try to fight him somewhere we have the advantage." ********** Sailor Uranus relieved a nearby youja of his whetstone. Judging by his glaring lack of a head, she didn't think he'd miss it. Squatting on the cold rocks, she drew the Uranus Space Sword and began to slide her new whetstone along the length of the blade, sharpening it. It was rythmic, it was soothing, and it was utterly pointless because the Space Sword never dulled. It was also, Sailor Neptune knew all too well, a nervous tic her lover had developed over the past few months. It didn't take... well, Setsuna... to know that something was bothering Haruka Ten'ou. It didn't exactly take much to figure out what, either. "So," asked the blond tomboy as she sharpened and honed a blade that didn't need it, "what's the deal? Have our grand and exalted leaders decided to run like cowards, or die like idiots?" "We're running, Haruka." Michiru nodded slightly, and hugged herself. She wanted to be home already, with a hot cup of tea and her violin. "The Inner Senshi..." Michiru looked up and felt her jaw drop. "Oh... my..." The Senshi and Yoroiden all turned and froze as a massive black stallion entered the courtyard. It seemed a cross between the finest of racehorses and the largest of Clydesdales, with a bit of antelope mixed in, as evidinced by the cloven hooves, tasseled tail, and long, wicked horns. Its rider was even worse. He was tall, maybe a foot or so taller than Ryo Sanada had been, and looked like at least three hundred pounds of solid muscle. His entire seven-foot frame was swathed in gleaming black and silver armour, including a gruesome winged skull stretching across his chestplate. Six broadswords fanned from his back, and his entire body bristled with spikes and blades. His thick mane of coarse white hair rustled slightly in the breeze, and he had no face. Instead, the ferocious crimson demon mask of his helmet embraced an emptiness deeper than the foulest pit of hell. The horns of his helmet glittered as his helmet turned to look down at them. One hand held the reins of his horse. The other held a massive spear, which looked like the big brother of Hotaru's own Silence Glaive. Slowly, the spear lowered to face all twenty creatures in the courtyard. GREETINGS, YOROIDEN. THE DARK RIDER HAS COME. "Arago..." Seiji lifted his no dachi sword and took a step back. "This is bad... VERY bad..." "Yoroiden!" With Ryo gone, Touma found himself once again filling the shoes of leadership. "Protective circle, around the Senshi!" Arago gestured, and a lance of pure darkness flew from his outstretched palm to blast the ground under all eight Yoroiden. With a massive explosion, the air was filled with shrapnel, gravel, and samurai. PLEASE, HASHIBA, the Demon Lord boomed in his guttural voice, SPARE ME YOUR THEATRICS. A shot of crackling red energy flew from Mamoru's fingertips and halted abruptly as Arago caught the wicked red rose mere inches away from his masked visage. PATHETIC, he sneered, and crushed the flower in his armoured fist. "Oh, man!" Usagi began to whimper slightly, her hands trembling as a fountain of tears threatened to gush forth at any moment. "What are we gonna do, what are we gonna DO?" "RUN!" Anubis and Naaza lunged forward, placing themselves between Kayura and the impassive form of Arago. "Save yourself, Empress! Flee this place!" Her long black hair swirling behind her, Rei Hino turned and grabbed Usagi by the wrist. "You heard them, dummy! we've got to get out of here! Come on!" "But..." Usagi stammered, as she let Sailor Mars drag her across the courtyard and through a large pair of double doors, flung open by Sailor Uranus and Neptune, respectively. "But what about the others?" Sailor Jupiter shook her head sadly as she pushed Tuxedo Kamen ahead of her. "The Yoroiden are bringing up the rear, Sailor Moon! Pluto and Saturn are with them, and the Masho shouldn't be far behind!" There was a sudden, resounding clang as the giant oaken doors were slammed shut behind everybody. The entire castle seemed to have gone silent, and Usagi hoped that all the youja and youma she had seen earlier had gotten away safely. Torches sputtered in their iron wall brackets, and the shimmeringm uncertain light cast a strange pallour on the faces of the group as the raced on, the only sound their racing footsteps slapping against the marble floors. Kayura looked behind her and did a quick head count. Sailor Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn... the Senshi seemed to be accounted for. She switched her nervous gaze to the Yoroiden, and froze. "Where," she asked calmly, "is Shuu Rei Fuan?" ********** Shuu spun his tetsubo staff expertly, whirling it until the flashing blade and studded weight capping either end of the weapon were little more then a blur of motion. With a snap, he tucked the polearm neatly in the crook of his elbow and thrust the naginata blade forward, spinning the tetsubo in his hands. His eyes narrowed as his breath fogged through the steel grate covering his lower face. "Any time you're ready, Arago." The Demon Lord reigned in his horse, and the corners of his fanged mask seemed to twist upwards in a sneer. SHUU REI FUAN. YOU WERE EVER THE MOST BLOODTHIRSTY OF MY MASHO, KONGO. Arago's spear spun in a quick circle, then lowered. NOW, YOU SHALL BE LITTLE MORE THAN AN APPETIZER. "Yeah?" Shuu smirked in reply, and shifted his weight back. "Well, get ready to choke on me!" Arago charged, and Shuu swung. There was a resounding clash as the two weapons met, straining against each other as Arago's horse reared up and pawed at the air with its cloven hooves. Shuu's armoured heels dug deep troughs through the solid flagstones of the yard as he was inexorably pushed back. "The old Arago... would have beaten me by now!" Shuu panted, his back and shoulders straining mightily against the sheer force of the Demon Lord's advance. "Guess... you are what you eat, ne?" PITIFUL MORTAL, fumed Arago, I WILL CRUSH YOU WITH ONE BLOW! "You just try that," Shuu snarled, and suddenly dropped to his knees, striking out with his staff... at Arago's steed. There was a loud snap as one of its legs broke, and the horse fell, landing on top of Arago and pinning him to the ground. "You see," Shuu continued, leaping back and lifting his staff once more, "I figure you need all nine yoroi to get back to your full power. I figure with just Ryo in there, you're only - what, ten or fifteen percent as strong as you used to be. And me?" The Yoroiden of Kongo smirked and performed a dazzling kata with his weapon. "I'm better than ever." Arago slowly rose to his feet, spear held before him horizontally, as if to form a barrier between the two figures. An odd glow was flickering along the length of the weapon, dancing from one hand to the other, then crawling along the haft of weapon and disappearing into the head. VERY WELL. ONE AT A TIME, OR ALL AT ONCE, IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO ME. Arago's coarse white hair stirred in a non-existant breeze as he shifted his weight forward and snapped the spear into a vertical position. FLARE UP... NOW!!! The world went very bright, and Shuu Rei Fuan screamed. ********** Badamon trembled slightly as he continued packing. Fortunately, a spirit such as himself didn't really have much in the way of personal effects : it was more like he was taking things he couldn't afford to have in the hands of others, rather than anything he himself might need. Standing quickly, he tucked one final item into the folds of his ragged black robes. It was a fairly large crystal ball, and glowed from within, bathing his face in scintillating light. This was the famed Jewel of Life, the key to Arago's defeat. Badamon smiled. If the Yoroiden knew how close this little gem was to their possession, they would no doubt move both heaven and earth to get it : literally. It was a shame, really, that they had to be so disappointed, but then he supposed it was necessary. The Samurai Troopers had been an annoying impediment the last time Arago attempted to claim Earth for his own : maybe killing them from the start was the way to go. The Death Phantom would gladly welcome their souls into its ranks, he knew, just as it would welcome Arago too, when the time came. His other master played no favorites, so long as its goals were in sight. Someday, he knew, his lord Arago would fall like wheat before a scythe, as would the rest of the universe... It was all a matter of time. The door to his quarters creaked open, and Badamon turned to see one of the Ankoku Priests, each indistinguishable from the other, waiting silently for him. Its gray skin and robes blended perfectly, until not even he could tell where one began and the other ended. "You've come for me," Badamon whispered as he looked past the wraith and saw the corridor beyond them filled with hundreds, even thousands of the robed creatures. "My reward for loyalty, is that it? A final gift from Lord Arago." The ghastly priests closed in on him, and Badamon gasped in surprise as he realised that their clasping hands were not going through his body, but INTO it. The world began to change, and the Jewel of Life flared brighter, growing and pulsing as priest after priest flowed through it. Badamon collapsed, and the priests continued to work their way inside him, oozing through the tears in his robes, flowing into his mouth, crawling up his nose... ********** Arago threw his head back and laughed. His thick black armoured hands squeezed tighter, and Shuu Rei Fuan gagged, reaching up and feebly trying to pry off the fingers wrapped around his throat. Nearby lay the shattered remnants of an iron staff, and the entire courtyard was covered in broken rock and smoking lumps of what were once Arago's own troops. Arago increased his grip, and felt Shuu's larynx give way under his thumb as the boy's neck armour crumpled suddenly and gave way. The stocky Chinese boy made a weak rattling noise and went still. After a brief moment, a complex web of energy began to trickle from his orange armour, swirling down the arms which held him and pouring into Arago's waiting maw. This energy flowed unabated, until only the body of a normal boy in overalls and a striped shirt hung where the Yoroiden of Kongo had once been. Still the energy flowed, and the form of the boy became more and more indistinct as Arago drank him dry. The Demon Lord laughed in exultation, and shuddered violently, curling into a ball on the charred and broken ground. He rose again, and seemed much larger than he had been earlier. ********** The Yoroiden and Senshi burst through a final pair of double doors and nearly fell to their deaths. The doorway, far from leading to yet another of the vacant chambers as expected, opened instead onto thin air. Desperately clutching Minako Aino's arm, Seiji managed to pull himself back onto a slim staircase which curled around the tower like a snake around a tree branch. The stairs had been carved directly out of the tower walls, but were at best a meter wide, which made for close quarters as the Yoroiden of Korin and Sailor Venus quickly found out. "Seiji! You need to be more careful!" Minako breathed into the crook of his neck as the blond samurai wrapped his arms around her and pressed her close against him. Unnoticed, Shin Mouri had grabbed Rei's hand. Sailor Mars looked down in surprise, then blushed and looked away. "She's right, man. One more inch and Arago would have been the least of your worries." Touma shook his head sympathetically. "I'd say we're at least sixty feet up. You would have been a little green smear on the ground if it weren't for Minako." "Hey," wheezed Seiji, his face deathly pale, "I... wasn't worried for an instant!" Naaza popped his head out of the doorway, where he and Anubis flanked their Empress, Kayura. "What's with the traffic jam? Let's get moving! He's nearly caught up to us!" "Naaza's right," Mamoru said, "we need to keep moving. Everybody, up the stairs, single file. Hold hands, so nobody falls." To demonstrate, he grasped Usagi's gloved fingers in his own and, holding his cane in the other, pushed his way to the front of line. Ami quickly followed suit, grabbing Usagi's other hand and grasping Rei as she passed. Rei and Shin were already holding hands, so the Yoroiden of Suiko snatched Minako's wrist as he inched by. Minako, Seiji, Naaza, Anubis, and the Outer Senshi were next in line, with Touma Hashiba and Makoto Kino bringing up the rear. Moving together, they carefully inched their way along the curving stairs, with infinite care. When one slipped, the others would all quickly pull them back against the wall, instead of out into the empty void. Makoto smirked as she carefully placed one foot ahead of the other. Once again, she thanked whatever fates had decided to give her Senshi outfit ankle boots. Rei and Minako may look a little more stylish, but they had also tripped more than anyone else, even Usagi. Hubris being what it was, the stair she stepped on chose that moment to crumble. She fell backwards, her hand breaking free of Touma's. Long brown ponytail fluttering behind her like a streamer, she opened her mouth in a silent scream as she plummeted over the edge. Touma's scream was far from silent. ********** Makoto sat up very slowly and touched her hand to her forehead. When she managed to focus on it, she saw that her fingertips were covered in blood. This was bad, she was sure, but the reason why escaped her at the moment. Maybe she should lie back down for a second... her head really hurt. Touma had been wrong, she thought fuzzily as she staggered to her feet. It hadn't been sixty feet : more like twenty, and she had jumped farther than that before without getting hurt. Of course, all those other times she had landed on her feet, she admitted as her body started telling her in no uncertain terms that it was very sore and quite tired, and could they please go home and take a nap now? A dry chuckle floated out of the darkness and Makoto blinked. Slowly and discreetly, she looked back over her shoulder. A slim young man in a gray uniform was laughing at her, she noticed. It seemed quite rude of him, since she didn't think they had ever met. "The clothes are familiar," she groaned as she turned to meet him, "but I can't place the face." "Funny," he replied, "I was just thinking the same thing." After a short pause, he spoke again. "My name, in case you care, is Jadeite. And you, I presume, are one of that annoying Sailor Moon's little lackeys... Jupiter, maybe, or Venus? I'm really not able to tell you rookies apart." Rookies? Makoto grit her teeth before unleashing her most patronising smile. "Oh, Jadeite! I've heard about you! Couldn't even beat three Senshi..." Sailor Jupiter clucked her tongue. "I mean, wiped out by your own troops? Don't you has-been villains EVER know when to throw in the towel?" "HAS-BEEN?" Jadeite's face turned deep purple. How... how DARE she! His fingers twitched, and globes of black energy began to form in the palms of his hands. Why he'd - JADEITE OF THE DARK KINGDOM. I KNOW OF YOU, ALSO... To Makoto's eternal surprise, the blond youma general twirled on one heel and thrust his hands forward, blasting a column of swirling black energy into the shadows surrounding them. "Leave me be, vampire! I know what you are! Jadeite is NO creature's meal!" The shadows parted, and the smoke wreathed form of Arago strode forth. Jadeite howled like a wild animal and leapt across the space between them, a long shard of ebony crystal growing from his hands. Using the jagged blade like a sword, he brought it down on Arago's horned head. Arago reached up and shattered the crystal with a single sharp blow, then caught Jadeite by his tunic and hurled him back into Makoto, who fell under the weight. I KNOW YOU AS WELL, SENSHI JUPITER OF THE MOON KINGDOM. Arago continued talking, as though nothing had happened. With deliberate care, he raised his spear and rested it against his shoulder. I COULD BE CONVINCED TO SPARE YOUR LIFE... IN RETURN FOR YOUR ETERNAL SERVICE. Makoto shuddered violently. "I'd rather die." Arago shrugged again. IF THAT IS YOUR WISH... "ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" A bolt of gold flashed from the sky and exploded against Arago's chestplate, knocking him off of his feet. Suddenly, Makoto found herself staring at a very familiar pair of shoulders as Touma Hashiba landed in front of her in a crouch. Already, he was reaching behind him to draw another arrow. As he looked behind him, their eyes locked. Standing, he raced over to her. "Makoto," he murmured, and kissed her deeply, his hands going around her waist. As Sailor Jupiter leaned into the kiss, her hands interlocking behind his neck, she felt her eyes begin to close. Touma was here, and somehow some part of her just KNEW that everything was going to be just fine. Their lips parted, and Touma smiled sadly. "Sayonara," he whispered, and, grabbing her roughly by the bows on her uniform, hurled her back up onto the stairs. Praying to every god he'd ever heard of that she landed safely, he turned to face the Demon Lord. The Yoroiden of Tenku smiled as he felt the familiar hiss of an arrow pulling free of its fellows and nocked it to the gleaming Sho Ha Kyu. Arago rose to his feet and watched impassively. YOU ARE WEAK, TOUMA HASHIBA. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME. Touma drew back the arrow and squinted as he aimed for Arago's left eye. "We'll see." ********** Makoto stumbled and cracked her forehead on the hard stone wall, nearly falling back off of the staircase until Setsuna and Hotaru caught her arms and dragged back up to safety. Safety... Sailor Jupiter fought the urge to cry. "Touma..." she wailed, making Hotaru wince in sympathy. "He's still down there, he... he can't stop Arago alone..." "No," admitted Setsuna, hiding a tear or two of her own, "but it is his destiny to try. Trust me, you will understand... eventually." ********** Touma bounced from wall to floor, flipping and spinning like a human pinball as he dodged the fists, feet, spear and energy blasts of Arago. Two, three, even six at a time he sent his golden arrows flying, each pounding into the Demon Lord like a giant hammer. Soaring backwards in mid-air, Touma reached back and felt the one thing he had never wanted to feel... nothing. Dropping and rolling backwards, he looked up at the looming form of Arago with a growing feeling of despair. Out of arrows? But... but... but he NEVER ran out of arrows! Arago tilted his head and folded his arms across his chest. AWWWW... HAVE YOU EMPTIED YOUR QUIVER, YOUNG TENKU? A veritable hail of glimmering shafts burst out of the Demon Lord's fanged mouth, pelting the armoured form of Touma Hashiba and driving him back. Touma sagged against the side of the tower, feeling the cool stone press against his face as he gasped for air. Dozens of the feathered quills jutted from the joints and plates of his armour. Shakily, he raised his head to meet the gaze of the Demon Lord. Tensing, he suddenly leapt straight up, spinning and catching ahold of the edge of the stairs nearly thirty feet above him. Arago seemed to glower behind his impassive mask, then lifted his spear and spun it above his head. IRON... ROCK... CRUSHER! The stone crumbled, and Touma desperately scrambled away from the collapsing chunks of granite, trying to swing his foot onto the stairs and climb to safety. Below him, Arago snarled like a caged tiger, a bone-quaking rumble that chilled the young man's blood. A gleam of gold drew his eye, and his pulse raced. There, lying in front of him, was one final arrow. Grasping it, he turned and nocked the bolt, falling once more towards the armoured demon and launching it. His body began to flame with a deep blue energy, and then Arago's hands were wrapping around him, the jagged maw stretching and growing until it swallowed his whole world... ********** There was an odd whirring noise, followed by the sound of a dart striking a balloon full of paint. Ami stopped short suddenly, and Usagi turned back to look at her friend. "What's wrong, Mercury?" "Oh..." Ami slowly looked down, where a long steel spike was marring her smooth white fuku, dripping thick gobbets of blood from its razor edges. The blue-haired girl looked up again at Usagi, her eyes wide. "Oh... my... Usagi..." Her knees gave out, and she crumpled on the steps, as the other Senshi stared in horror. Shin looked over the edge, where Arago stood with arm poised. The Demon Lord silently lowered the Sho Ha Kyu, and pointed at the Yoroiden of Suiko. Slowly, Arago turned his hand and drew one finger across his throat. Shin gulped, and turned to the rest of the group. "Come on," Kayura said, as Rei gently lifted the form of Sailor Mercury, "we have to take her to the shrine." ********** The shrine was a gigantic circular room, with a swirling mosaic of tiles on the floor, its sparkling red and purple laced with flecks of gold and making the surface resemble a great vortex. Rows upon rows of lit candles were the only light, and thick velvet curtains hung over the walls. In all, Setsuna thought to herself as she looked around, it gave the impression of floating in space. Shuten would have appreciated it. The statue standing in an alcove against the far wall was of Toshitada Koma himself, clad not in the yoroi of Oni, but the robes of his ancestor Kauso, and wielding the same shakujo staff which dangled from Kayura's own hand. Kayura and her Masho guards all bowed before the statue, and she gently lay the staff on the floor before it. "I apologise, honored ancestor, for I have no offering to give to you on this day. We pray, nonetheless, that you shall continue to watch over us as always." Kayura motioned for Rei to set Ami down before the statue. "We cannot save your friend," she explained to the Senshi, "but we can hope that Shutendoji shall lead her to peace." Anubis gently laid one hand on his Empress' shoulder, and she wrapped her fingers around his. "Kayura," he whispered, "we must go." Rei stood and bit her lower lip, fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly. "Go on ahead, Usagi... I'm staying here with Ami. I'll catch up in a minute." "But Rei!" "Usagi." Rei Hino calmly and evenly met her leader's gaze. "We were your first Senshi. Give us a minute alone, okay?" Usagi started to say something, then nodded quietly and walked away, leaning against Tuxedo Kamen's side. At the door, he turned and smiled bravely to Sailor Mars. "Don't worry, Sailor Mars. I'll take care of Usagi... until you come back." "You'd better." Rei waited with her eyes shut until she heard the doors close behind her friends, then kneeled down and took Ami's hand. "Rei?" Ami's eyes slowly opened, and Rei found herself smiling. "Yeah, it's me." Reaching out, she brushed some hair off of her friend's forehead. "What is it?" "Take care of her, Rei. You know she means well, it's just..." Ami winced in pain and trembled slightly. "Try to get along, Rei. You know she loves us..." Rei slowly stood to her feet, stepping back from the form of her friend. Ami Mizuno had stopped breathing. Sailor Mercury was gone. Blinking rapidly, Sailor Mars fought off the tears forming in the corners of her eyes and turned away. In the shadows, something moved. Slowly, Shin Mouri walked into the halo of light cast by the shrine's flickering candles. He had removed his yoroi, and was dressed simply in grey pants and a white shirt with black suspenders. Shrugging self-consciously, he tossed away the beige jacket he had hanging over the crook of his arm and walked closer to her. "Shin?" Rei sniffed, and wiped her eyes dry. "What are you doing out of your armour, you idiot? If Arago catches you..." "Come here," he said simply, and cradled her in his arms. Rei buried her face in his shoulder and he smiled. "I figured this way I won't rust," he explained. Looking over at the still form of Ami Mizuno, his features softened. "I never really got to know her," he explained. "She seemed nice, and Ryo certainly thought the world of her..." "She was the best," Rei mumbled, as her tears began to flow. Shin patted her on the back and gently rocked her back and forth, muttering platitudes under his breath. After a few minutes, he figured she was cried out. "We should go," he said to her, and honestly wasn't overly surprised when Rei shook her head. "No... I'm waiting here, with Ami. Tell the other Senshi I'll do my best against Arago, make him pay for what he's done, or at least slow him down a little. Tell them I'm sorry." Shin chuckled. "If you're done being dramatic, can we please get to work?" He picked up a candleabra and examined it critically. "This ought to do. Grab some and help me bar the doors." "Shin, what are you..." "What does it look like? You just said we were going to wait here for Arago. If we bar the doors, we can buy everyone a few more seconds, at least." ********** She floated alone in the darkness. Dark, but not empty, the formless world around her hissed and rustled, swirling around her and snapping at her with jaws designed for things she didn't want to imagine. It was like sinking in tar, like being swarmed by a living carpet of carnivorous beetles. Some ripped at her with serrated blades, some lashed with whiplike tentacles, and still more tore at her scant protection with their bare, grasping hands. Her protection held, she noticed calmly. It was rather sturdy, for a bubble. After what felt like an eternity but was probably less, a shape appeared in the shadows below her. A single spot of light, a lone island of decency in the swirling abyss of this hellish place. Her bubble floated as if drawn to this lone place, and dissipated as she felt coarse, dry grass against her skin. Slowly, she rose from the fetal position she had been curled in, and began to look around. Where was this strange place? Idly, she wandered off to investigate. ********** The door shuddered once more, and the intricate web of brass candleabras barring it creaked ominously. There was a long silence, and then a large spear tore through both the oaken door and the web of metal holding it shut. Candleabras clattered on the tiled floor like a chorus of bells, and Arago began to step through the doors. Unexpectedly, he saw only a lone girl in the center of the room, huddled over the corpse of her friend and trembling. He would have blinked in surprise, if he had any eyes to blink with. The girl had made no motion to run from him, and in fact seemed to have completely missed his entrance. He took another step forward, and lowered his spear. The small part of him that was still human wondered what the hell was going on. "Rei! Do it now!" Shin Mouri shouted from above. The girl jumped to her feet, trembling not with sorrow or fear, as Arago had assumed, but rage. With a flick of her wrists, she snapped two scrolls of paper straight and began to chant. "Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!" The twin scrolls flew through the air and adhered to his chest and helmet. Arago shuddered violently, and was still. From his perch atop the statue of Shutendoji, Shin leapt, swinging across the room on a golden chain and ramming his Suiko Yari home. The trident actually pierced Arago's stomach, to his surprise, and a fountain of orange energy streamed out. Shin spun on the end of his chain as the haft of his trident snapped in half and swung away just as Sailor Mars charged forward, streamers of flame trailing from her fingertips. "BURNING MANDALA!" Arago howled as a tower of flaming rings swirled around his body. Shin took advantage of this distraction to roll across the floor and hurl his dagger at the weakened Demon Lord. Its honed blade tore through Arago's left shoulder, and a plume of blue energy blasted from the wound. ********** Ami stumbled and grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree as her small island suddenly began to quake violently. Losing her grip, she stumbled and fell, slamming her head against another tree trunk. Grabbing onto a katana blade that was half buried in the ground, she hauled herself back onto her feet... ...and screamed, as she looked right into the face of Touma Hashiba. He was half in and half out of the tree, as though somehow the gnarled and twisted wood were trying to devour him, and although his face was frozen in a look of horror, his eyes were glazed and sightless. ********** The scrolls holding Arago back steamed and burst into flame, falling away from his form as a swirling cloud of black ash. With a feral roar, he knocked Sailor Mars across the room and lunged at Shin, pinning the Yoroiden to the floor by his shoulderplates. PREPARE TO MEET THE UNDERWORLD, YOROIDEN! Shin smiled as the triple bladed claw on his right gauntlet snapped into place against his wrist. "Prepare," he snarled in return, "to give me a guided tour!" He rammed the claws into Arago's already injured stomach, and screamed in triumph and agony as a great torrent of crimson energy washed over his fading body... ********** Sailor Mercury jumped back in surprise as a new tree suddenly burst from the ground fully formed. Like all of the trees on this strange island, it was a gnarled and leafless thing, grey and dead, its scraggly branches writhing in air like the tentacles of an octupus. Trapped in the trunk of this tree was Shin Mouri, his mouth open in a soundless howl as his one hand thrust outward from the bark enclosing him. "What is going on here?" Ami wondered aloud, as she began to circle around the tree, examining this latest piece of evidence in her strange little world. She stopped halfway around, placing one hand over her mouth. "Oh, Rei," she gasped, as she looked down on the form of her friend and fellow Senshi, Sailor Mars, lying at the very base of the tree. The trunk had grabbed her body at the waist, and her arms were locked as though she was trying to free herself. Her eyes, like those of both Touma and Shin, were open yet sightless, and she had a look on her face that spoke of both terrible fear... and terrible pain. "Oh, Rei," Ami repeated, looking around at the relatively small island of dry grass and evil trees that surrounded her. "I'll save you, Rei. I'll save you all... somehow." ********** Sailor Moon didn't scream when the body hurtled through the air over their heads and bounced its way up the staircase ahead of them. She didn't scream when she saw what had been done to it. She didn't scream... until she saw who it was. Mamoru lifted his cape and wrapped it around Usagi as he held her close, crushing her face against his chest so she wouldn't have to see any more. Makoto looked like she was going to be sick, Minako clutched Seiji and began to cry, and even the Outer Senshi looked disturbed. For their part, the Masho shared a glance and nodded to each other, vowing silently to insure that their Empress never suffered like Rei Hino. For her part, Kayura shuddered and held herself, sinking to the ground and weeping hysterically as Arago's maddening laughter floated through the air and encircled them all. Tuxedo Kamen ground his teeth and held Usagi even tighter. "Arago dies," he growled, "if I have to make a deal with the Devil himself to do it!" A portal of sheer darkness formed in the wall ahead of them, and a sickeningly familiar form in a grey uniform flickered into existence. Jadeite smiled toothily, a strange purple light glimmering in his eyes. "You rang?" ********** "SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" A wave of freezing water roared into the tree, which remained not only unharmed, but unimpressed. Ami Mizuno sighed, and lowered her arms. She had at first been glad to see that she could still transform into Sailor Mercury, but it seemed to make no real difference, here. Every attack she had tried amounted to nothing, except for the ankle deep fog that now coated the ground. "You listen to me!" She shouted into the air, which actually seemed to be listening to her. "I don't know what's going on here, but I am NOT beaten yet! I will save my friends, and there's not a thing you can do to stop me, do you understand?" The world failed to respond, other than the trees, which may or may not have begun writhing their branches a little faster. Ami got the frustrating opinion that they were mocking her, and stormed off deeper into the forest. ********** "You'd better speak fast," Anubis said calmly to his Empress, as he and Naaza struggled to hold back a homicidal Tuxedo Kamen. "I don't think we can hold this boy back forever." "You heard my Masho, Jadeite." Kayura nodded in their direction, then turned back to face the blond youma general. "What is your interest in this?" "Self-interest." Jadeite looked nervous for a moment, then carefully schooled his aristocratic features back into their usual cold and indifferent appearance. "Arago has expressed an unhealthy interest in me as well, and my attempts to flee this mudpit of a dimension have all failed rather spectacularly." For no apparent reason, he turned and snapped over his shoulder. "Shut UP! They can't hear you laughing, you know. Just go away and take those other two with you!" Kayura looked at him with more than a little apprehension, and Jadeite shrugged. "My fellow generals," he said by way of explanation. "I... see." Kayura shrugged slightly. "You are proposing a joining of our talents?" "Against Arago," Jadeite agreed, "after which it's every man for himself. I can't defeat him alone," he glanced over at the body of Sailor Mars, and shuddered, "and it seems you're not exactly doing so well either." "True..." Kayura paused in thought, and tried to collect herself as Arago's laughter echoed throughout her castle. "Very well, Jadeite. We shall combine forces... for now." ********** Ami Mizuno stood and stared. There, before her, was the largest cherry tree she had ever seen, dominating the entire section of forest she had found. Her breath seemed to be caught in her throat as she walked forward, her short blue skirt ruffling in a breeze that came from nowhere. Trapped in the trunk of this massive cherry tree, his hands caught behind him and head hanging low, was Ryo Sanada. "Ryo..." Ami whispered the name softly into the breeze, almost afraid to say it aloud. "It's you... I never thought I'd see you again." She reached up, and her fingers brushed his bare chest. **Jealous of Touma, why is he so smart, makes me feel so...** **Anger, blood, killing and killing and laughing... wading through enemies, waist DEEP in enemies, bathing in their blood and loving every second of it, monster...** Ami stepped back, jerking her fingers away. What had just happened? She looked again at Ryo, and this time she trembled with revulsion. He was a killer, a monster, a selfish friend and incompetent leader, and he deserved everything that was happening to him... No. That was wrong. She shook the thoughts out of her head. That wasn't Ryo, or at least, not ALL of him. She knew that, would stake her life on that, but for the split second she had touched him, she had been filled with such loathing and hatred... Acting more on instinct than any sudden realisation, Ami stepped forward again and grabbed the young man's head in her hands. She groaned and dropped to her knees as she once more bathed in the darkest, foulest recesses of his mind, the parts he hid from everybody, even himself. She saw Ryo slaughtering countless youja, blood coating every surface of his armour. She saw Ryo murdering Professor Yagyu, as surely as if he had guided Naaza's blade himself. She saw hundreds of innocent people, spirited away and killed because Ryo was too weak to stop it, Ryo's jealousy of Seiji, anger at Shuu, enviousness of Touma's brilliance, his stubborness, his temper, every time he had ever solved a problem with his fists and his swords, instead of his mind... She wanted to pull away. Instead, she forced his mouth open and kissed him as deeply and passionately as she knew how, plunging even deeper into his psyche and riffling through his memories like a gambler with a deck of cards. It was like crawling through a carpet of rusty nails, but she pushed herself in. ********* Seiji brought up the rear. That was his job, his duty as a Yoroiden. As... the last... no. He wouldn't think about that. He was going to live, he was going to get away, and they'd all come back and save everybody... His foot landed badly, and he felt his ankle give out. There was barely even time to yell out as he hit the stairs with a solid thud. The Yoroiden of Korin cursed as he reached down and clutched the offending limb. Sprained, he thought, but it was okay, he could heal it. Flipping back the thick shock of blond hair that always covered his right eye, Seiji squeezed the green armoured greave that sheathed his leg and focused the power of Korin. His hands began to glow with a golden light, and he felt his ankle slowly repairing itself. The rest of the team were getting ahead, he thought : he'd need to hurry if he wanted to catch up to them. A hand wrapped around his head and Arago effortlessly hoisted him into the air. The Demon Lord had grown -gorged himself on the spirits of Ryo, Touma, Shin, and Shuu- and was at least seventeen feet tall. His thick mane of white hair swirled in the breeze, and he was no longer even standing on the staircase, clinging to the tower wall like a giant black and silver spider. YOU STILL HAVE NOT LEARNED, YOROIDEN OF KORIN. THERE ARE NO BATTLES FOUGHT BY HEROES... "VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!!!" A thick band of light wrapped around Arago's wrist, forming itself into a metal chain which Minako Aino quickly used to pull the giant Demon Lord's hand free. Seiji dropped to the surface of the stairs, gasping for breath and clutching his bruised chest. He knew that Minako couldn't hope to beat Arago alone, he had to... "ARAGO!" Anubis leapt around the side of the tower, his sword whistling through the air as he vaulted over Minako's head. "I've come to put the fear of darkness in your heart!" "Me?" Naaza cackled wildly, rolling between Minako's legs and bouncing to his feet like a maniacal jack-in-the-box, "Oh, I just came to watch you die!" "Your path should never have led you back here, 'Master'," Rajura hissed, scuttling along the stone facade and unhooking the intricate six scythed weapon he carried on his back, which began whirring like a saw blade. "Now, drink deep of the madness... and kiss your oblivion!" YOU! Arago bellowed, drawing his broadsword. TRAITORS! I OFFERED YOU THE WORLD, AND YOU SPURNED ME FOR THE FRIENDSHIP OF THESE... THESE WEAKLINGS! NOW, SHARE THEIR FATE! And the battle, to put it mildly, was well and truly joined. ********** Slowly, Ami began to manipulate the images she found in Ryo's mind. When her opponent -Arago, unless she missed her guess- tried to drag Ryo down, she would counter by pulling him up. Slowly, she was able to filter in the memories and experiences she wanted to. Ryo and Touma, gladly charging into almost certain death to save their friends. Ryo battling his way through an army of robots, to rescue his father. Forming the Kikouten and tempering the power to destroy worlds without becoming a slave to it. Trusting Shutendoji, despite their past together. In Ryo's mind, the other Yoroiden were screaming and writhing in agony, cursing his name and shrieking for mercy, the mercy Arago would never provide. Ami countered that too, as each of the samurai calmly faced their adversity with the knowledge that their friend would come, that their leader would rescue them. And slowly, infinitely slowly, she felt Ryo - HER Ryo, the REAL Ryo - begin to respond. ********** Usagi winced and looked over at Kayura. From the sound of things, a minor nuclear war had just broken out behind them, and the young girl was slightly unnerved. "Are you sure that was smart, Kayura? Why would you let the Masho fight Arago now, if he's even bigger and more powerful than he was before?" Kayura smirked grimly. "Rajura is a spider in more ways than one, dear Usagi. His mind is a rich tapestry of webs, and even something as horrible as Arago's return is little more than a game to him. His plan has unfolded, and Arago is now at the disadvantage." "Plan?" Tuxedo Kamen was incredulous. "You've got to be kidding me... this whole retreat was just to bait Arago?" "Exactly. Arago has nowhere to run, and cannot escape." Kayura turned and nodded to Jadeite. "Now, if our associate from the Dark Kingdom will assist with the closing of our trap?" Jadeite shook his head in disgust. "Reduced to playing taxi driver for a bunch of Sailor Senshi," he muttered. "There is something very wrong with this world..." He gestured emphatically, and a large black portal formed behind him. Reality warped, and both Jadeite and the Outer Senshi flickered from existence. And then there were four. Kayura, Sailor Jupiter, Tuxedo Kamen, and Sailor Moon stood on the roof of the tower they had been climbing. The Empress of the Dynasty smiled angelically as she spoke to the three heroes before her. "There is one more thing we must do, Sailor Moon, if Arago is to be banished forever from this realm. Will you help me?" ********** Seiji gagged as Arago pinned him to the ground with one foot. Ribbons of green energy began flowing up the giant Demon Lord's leg and into his mouth as the smoking wounds on his stomach and shoulder began to buckle and close. The Yoroiden of Korin went limp, even as Naaza charged forward and slammed into his former master, tackling the now twenty foot tall behemoth and howling at the top of his lungs. "SUFFER!" Arago snarled and grabbed the Masho of Poison with both hands. YOU FIRST. Naaza's howl turned into a shriek, and Anubis took advantage of the Demon Lord's distraction to land on his back, digging into the black armour plates with his gleaming no dachi sword. "BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH!!!" A column of black energy tore straight through Arago's back, punching its way through the freshly healed stomach plating. Arago roared, and Naaza managed to break free, visibly weakened, but still able to draw his swords. "SNAKE BITE STRIKE!!!" A glowing whip of caustic energy slashed across the gleaming skull emblem on Arago's chest, and the Demon Lord threw himself backward, slamming Anubis into the stone wall of the tower. The Masho of Darkness maintained his grip, though he could taste blood in his mouth. FOOLS! Arago snarled. I AM INVINCIBLE! NO MAN MAY DEFEAT ME! Indeed, Arago looked every inch the master of all he surveyed as he hovered in mid-air, hair whipping behind him like a white mane as he ran his spear through a Rajura who promptly popped like a bubble and, of course, wasn't Rajura after all. Six other Rajuras chose that moment to pounce, and the Demon Lord reeled under their attack. A flicker of reality, and suddenly the Outer Senshi were rushing up the stairs to meet Arago from the opposite direction. Leading the charge was Jadeite, cackling maniacally as he launched a veritable barrage of black crystal shards at the monster. Sailor Uranus jumped forward, her Space Sword flashing through the air as it rang off of Arago's own blade, which he barely managed to raise in time to parry her. Saturn used the Silence Glaive as a pole and vaulted into the air, her booted feet smashing into Arago's stomach. Spinning as she fell, the Senshi of Silence brought her glaive into use in a more traditional way and tore another gash out of his armour. Arago swiped at the new arrivals, backhanding Jadeite into Neptune and knocking both off of the staircase. Michiru's brief shriek was cut off as Jadeite quickly teleported them both back onto solid ground and returned to attacking Arago. The real Rajura (possibly) dropped from his perilous grip on the side of the tower. Falling atop of Arago, he used Anubis as a stepping stone and threw himself onto his former master's head. A strange blue webbing spread from his hands and wrapped around the Demon Lord's mask. Hauling with all his strength, Rajura forced the creature to bend backwards, exposing its chest and throwing its arms back. "Kayura!" Rajura cried. "Do it now!" The shakujo staff flew straight and true, spinning through the air and landing deep in Arago's heart, crunching through his chestplate like little more than eggshell. The Demon Lord shrieked as Kayura spun and glared at Usagi. "Sailor Moon, it's your turn!" Usagi stood, Mamoru's cape flaring behind her as she rasised her sceptre. "MOON SCEPTRE... ELIMINATION!" ********** Ami was thrown free from her contact with Ryo as the small island she shared with the Yoroiden and their trees began to quake once more. To her surprise, large sections of the ground broke free and began to tumble free, disappearing as the endless darkness swallowed them. That wasn't figurative, either : she distinctly heard chewing. The trees creaked and groaned as they rocked back and forth, their tentacle-like branches whipping about frantically as their roots burst out of the ground. Sprawled on her back, Sailor Mercury looked around as her one small haven in this strange world or dimension or whatever it was began to crumble. The darkness was growing closer, and this time she felt there would be no escape... Ryo blinked, and took a deep breath, shaking his head like someone waking from a very bad dream. Then he spoke. "BUSSO, REKKA!" From all around her, filtering through the rumbling of the quake and chewing of the shadows, Ami could hear the the sound of wood breaking. She also heard a chorus of voices, voices long silent, and finding themselves once more. "BUSSO, KORIN!" "BUSSO, SUIKO!" "BUSSO, KONGO!" "BUSSO, TENKU!" ********** Arago began to wail, a high-pitched shriek that had all of the Masho and Outer Senshi covering their ears and wincing. A multitude of cracks spiderwebbed across his body, spreading and joining with each other as beams of light burst from the chinks and joints of his armour. Blue, orange, red, and green, the lights flashed and strobed the Senshi in an eerie light show. Usagi didn't lose a step, swinging her Moon Sceptre back into position and performing yet another set of moves, pirouetting as she performed the final strike, her coup de grace. "MOON... HEALING... ACTIVATION!" A new sun rose in the Dynasty for that one day, as Arago, the enslaver of souls, lord of demons, and Emperor of all he surveyed, exploded and took the top half of his castle with him. ********** Tuxedo Kamen curled himself around Usagi, who had either passed out from the strain of performing her attacks, or was doing a good job of faking it so he would curl himself around her. He shrugged mentally and tightened his grip around the girl's waist as he threw his cape over their heads to fend off the rain of shrapnel. The future rulers of Crystal Tokyo landed gracefully, thanks mostly to his own ability to fly. The other members of their group hit the ground a bit less gently, but Mamoru was sure they would survive. After battling Arago, dying in a simple fall would be too... anticlimactic for any of their tastes. He took advantage of the semi-privacy provided by his cape to lean down and gently kiss his love. "You did wonderfully, Sailor Moon," he whispered to her, "and I am very proud of you." Usagi couldn't help beaming at that, and Mamoru chuckled softly. He had figured she was faking it. Throwing his cape back behind his shoulders, Tuxedo Kamen stood up and looked around warily. Anubis was similarly draping his cape over Kayura, and the two heroes shared a glance as the Masho also rose to his feet. Naaza and Rajura were groaning as they dusted off their armour and tried to straighten the kinks in both their weapons and their bodies. Rajura actually had a plume of smoke rising from his hair, and looked mean enough to bite the first person who spoke to him. Naaza ALWAYS looked ready to bite somebody, mean or not, and his fang-filled grin didn't help the image much. Haruka and Michru, predictably, were tending to each others wounds. Sailor Neptune had sprained her ankle, and Sailor Uranus was gently wrapping it in clean clothes as the two had a quiet conversation. Mamoru consdidered joining them, then vetoed the idea. Instead, he walked over to where Makoto, Setsuna, and Hotaru were nervously watching the skies. "Stars shine only at night," Setsuna said softly, as she watched Sailor Saturn frantically scan the darkening skies of evening, "and stars that fall to earth never shine again..." "Who said that?" Mamoru asked curiously, as he joined her. "My husband used to," she answered frankly. "He was a great man. A man who knew what I fear those two are about to learn : great victories sometimes require great sacrifices." Hotaru sniffed, and tried to choke back her tears. "He's coming," she said softly, "Ryo promised. He promised, so he'll be here. He said he'd be okay, he PROMISED!" Makoto simply clasped her hands together in prayer. "Touma..." High above them, something glinted orange. Then green, blue, red, blue again... and five distinct sparks of light began to drift down from the clouds, slowly growing larger as the floated to earth. In a matter of minutes, the glowing orbs were close enough for all of the Senshi and Masho to make out the armoured figures in each. There was a crackling sound, and the sharp scent of ozone filled the air as all five Yoroiden landed. Their gleaming shells of energy faded, and a light mist hissed from their armoured forms. The armour stood at attention, but the faces behind each mask seemed composed, eyes shut as though in sleep... or meditation. Sailor Mercury smiled in relief as she let go of Ryo's shoulders and landed on her feet. She seemed a trifle shaky, but otherwise perfectly fine. Usagi squealed with joy and shot past the other Senshi like a human bullet, knocking the blue-haired girl over with her enthusiastic hug. Sailor Mars simply smiled as she reached down and slowly removed Shin's armoured hand from around her waist. "What," she asked the Senshi who surrounded her with smiles and pats on the back, "you thought I'd leave that meatball-head to run you guys by herself? She'd have lead you off a cliff before the end of the week!" ********** Five days later, Ryo Sanada gently rang his knife against the top of his champagne glass to get everybody's attention. He partially succeeded : Usagi and Shuu both continued plowing through their meal, but everybody else looked up. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, before stopping himself and starting over. "Yoroiden and Senshi, I would like to propose a toast. To the defeat of Arago, and the salvation of the earth realm!" Seiji also stood, straightening his tuxedo jacket with a sharp tug and lifting his own glass. "To being home in Japan, where things are normal!" Everybody laughed, and Touma tried to stand up as well. Unfortunately, having Makoto Kino hanging around his neck and playing with his bow tie made that rather difficult. "Hey, Mako-chan, you mind letting me go for one second?" "Yes!" Sailor Jupiter took another sip of her ginger ale, since nobody at the table was really old enough to drink, and giggled. "Every time I let you out of my sight, you nearly get killed. Do you have any idea how big a crimp that puts on our relationship?" "Fine." Touma remained seated, and raised his glass. "To Kayura and the Masho : even if they couldn't be with us in body, we know they're here in spirit!" Hotaru stood and smoothed her black velvet dress self-consciously. "To old friends," she said, with a smile at Chibi-Usa, who was still pouting at having been left out of the fun, "and new ones!" "I'll drink to that," Haruka admitted with a smile. "I'd rather have you Yoroiden with us than against us, that's for sure!" "Definitely," concurred Shin, and winked at Rei, who blushed and hid behind her napkin. "We usually don't treat our enemies to rooftop dinners at fancy restaurants." "Can we please just settle this before we're here all night?" Mamoru stood and lifted his glass, dressed for once in a white tuxedo and blue cummerbund, since Usagi insisted that with the Yoroiden dressing up he couldn't get away with transforming at the last second. "To the Yoroiden Samurai Troopers and the Sailor Senshi!" "Hear, hear!" Sixteen glasses rang against each other. THE END