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) "If only I had known then... that a shell of iron... is hollow." -Anthony Stark Part 6 : Making Up Is Hard To Do The Dynasty, Usagi Tsukino thought to herself, was really ugly, even at sunset. Absently flipping one long blond ponytail back over her shoulder to hang next to its partner, she leaned back and held herself up with her hands. Yep, she thought, ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The sky was fading from blood red to bruised purple, and the landscape slowly changed from "desolate" to "spooky", as the shadows claimed their dominion. The scraggly bushes behind her rustled, and a young man with shoulder length brown hair came crawling out to speak to her. His name was Shin Mouri, and he was carrying a plate of something that MIGHT be food, once it stopped twitching. "Komban wa, Usagi Tsukino." "Good evening, Shin Mouri." Usagi patted the arid ground next to her. "Pull up some dirt." The Yoroiden of Suiko did so, groaning as he sat down and stretched out his stiff legs. "Well, this certainly has been a busy day, hasn't it, Usagi?" "A busy day? We just barely escaped from a whole army of really big, mean, and UGLY monsters who wanted to take Kayura's castle and kill us all. The only people in this whole world who might be willing to help us are the other Senshi, and we don't know where they are. How can you be in such a good mood?" "Simple." Shin shrugged. "We're not fighting each other any more, we finally know who our enemies are, where they can be found, and what they're doing, and they can't say the same about us. Best of all, we're still breathing, and if I know the Masho, that is something our enemies will NOT live to regret." ********** Hotaru Tomoe smiled and looked over at Ryo Sanada as they stood outside of the large black tent. "Well, Ryo? Are you ready to do this?" The Yoroiden of Rekka grinned and nodded. He had decided against wearing his crimson samurai armour, choosing a pair of jeans and a white sweater with the words "Milk Ball" scrawled across the chest. It looked to Hotaru that he was regretting his decision. "Sure! All I have to do is walk in there and convince the Sailor Senshi that I'm on their side. I'll convince them that I'm actually an honest, reliable, trustworthy individual." Hotaru leaned on her Silence Glaive and tilted her head as she looked at him. "And what exactly are you going to say to do THAT?" Ryo shrugged. "I'll just make something up. I'm good at lying." With a flourish, he threw open the tent flap and ducked in. "Hi! You won't believe th - AAAAAAAAH!" Stumbling backwards in a tidal wave of Senshi, Ryo curled into a ball and tried to cover his head with his hands while five women in sailor fuku all tried to use him as a football. "OW! HEY! OOF! IT'S NOT MY FAULT! OW! WATCH THE HEELS!" Ryo shrieked, rolling around and scrambling to avoid the persistent attacks of the Sailor Senshi. "I SWEAR! OW! THERE WAS A TRAFFIC JAM! OW! A... A HURRICANE! OOF! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! OW! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Hotaru crossed her arms and tried not to burst out laughing as Ryo continued writhing on the ground and trying to avoid the feet of Rei Hino, Haruka Ten'ou, Michiru Kaioh, Setsuna Meioh, and Makoto Kino. "OW! HEY! OW! WHERE THE HELL IS SEIJI? OW! WHY IS NOBODY HELPING ME?" "Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama!" Hotaru finally yelled, deciding to step in before her friend lost a vital organ or six. "Leave poor Ryo alone!" "Poor Ryo?" Rei wondered, as Haruka and Michiru immediately ran over and swept their daughter into a large hug, crying and laughing. Ryo slowly lowered his hands and looked up. "That's right," he hissed, "POOR Ryo. And SOMEBODY was using her HIGH HEELS on me!" "Oh..." Rei had the decency to blush slightly. "Uhm... gomen nasai?" "No... you're NOT sorry." His eyes glowing, Ryo slowly and stiffly rose to his feet. "But you will be if I have anything to say about... hi, Ami!" Suddenly snapping out of his rage, he waved cheerfully at the blue haired girl standing in the tent opening and staring at him. "Ryo?" Ami Mizuno slowly stepped out into the open. "What's going on here?" "Uhm..." This, Ryo decided, could only be handled one way. It was the mature, manly way to do it, too. He dropped to his knees and began bowing repeatedly. "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasai..." Ami narrowed her eyes. "No... you're NOT sorry." Reaching down, she grabbed the dark haired boy by the neck of his sweater. "But you will be if I have anything to say about it... come with me." Ryo could think of only one thing to say. "Eeep." ********** Yamanouchi Naotoki, also known as Naaza, sighed as he sat on a convienient rock. "Well, we got away. Now what?" The blue-haired teen sitting on the ground across from Yamanouchi glared at him. "I don't know. Why do you assume that I would know?" "Because, Touma Hashiba, I was of the misguided opinion you had a brain." The golden eyes of the Masho of Poison glinted in the fading light as he curled his lip, showing off a pair of sharp canines. From his perch in a nearby tree, Jirougorou Kuroda chuckled. "Naaza, Touma, this is no time to go picking fights." The Chinese boy sitting under the tree made a sour face. "No, Rajura, this is the PERFECT time to pick fights!" Picking up his thick iron staff, he wound up like a batter and swung, making the entire tree quiver as a man in purple armour tumbled from its branches. "Because of you Masho, Touma and I wound up fighting our friends! And now you're saying it was for NO GOOD REASON!" Shuu Rei Fuan, Yoroiden of Kongo, hopped to his feet and scowled. "So I say it's time we got back to basics. Let's kick some Masho ass!" "You want to call off our truce?" Naaza rose, drawing a pair of his katana blades and glaring at Touma. "Fine by me!" Rajura also regained his footing, drawing the six connected scythes that served as his main weapon. "The Masho of Deception is ever ready to teach you Yoroiden the error of your ways!" Shuu snarled as his steel face mask slid shut. "Oh, shut up! Let's just get this over with!" "SNAKE BITE STRIKE!" Naaza's glowing swords seemed to mold themselves into a whip, and lashed at Touma Hashiba, who leapt into the air and drew his golden bow, the Sho Ha Kyu. "Not even CLOSE, Naaza! ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" The sky warped as a massive blast of energy flew from Touma's bow and exploded against Naaza's chestplate. The Masho of Poison was thrown back, but merely snarled as he proceeded to draw his other four swords, hands moving so quickly that he appeared to have grown extra arms as he lunged at the Yoroiden of Tenku with all six blades. "SUFFER!" Naaza shrieked, lethal venom pouring from his body and withering the very grass beneath him as he flew towards his target. Touma simply shrugged and soared out of the way, letting Naaza collide with a nearby tree. "We're in the AIR, Naaza! You should know better than to challenge me in my own element!" Touma drew another three arrows from the quiver on his back and launched them at his opponent. Meanwhile, Rajura taunted Shuu Rei Fuan as the Yoroiden of Kongo struck and parried with opponents only he could see. "Pathetic fool! You cannot defeat ME! You don't even know which me to hit!" "I don't have to, Spider-brains!" Shuu growled and lifted his staff above his head. "IRON ROCK CRUSH-" "QUAKE WITH FEAR!" With a loud explosion, the clearing the four samurai had been dueling in suddenly erupted in chains, blasting up from the ground and embedding themselves in the nearest object, forming an intricate mesh of links that had all four hanging in mid-air like puppets tangled in their own strings. Shuu had actually been flipped when a pair of chains burst from under his feet, and now he hung upside down, dangling by his ankles. Naaza and Touma were both stuck hanging sideways and wrapped in cocoons of metal. Rajura, like the spider he was, had somehow avoided every chain and now perched comfortably in the web. All four managed to look both foolish and guilty as a young girl entered the clearing. She could not have been more than twelve, with long black hair and strange red eyeshadow painting her face. She wore black samurai armour, under a green and yellow overcoat, and held a wicked scythe blade whose chained end led into the ground. She was Kayura, Empress of the Dynasty, and she didn't look very happy with any of them. "I cannot believe you!" Kayura hissed as she strode forward. "My Dynasty is in mortal danger from the machinations of Saranbo, and you're fighting like a bunch of... of... LITTLE BOYS!" "Naaza started it," Touma mumbled under his breath. "Did not!" Naaza objected. "Did too!" Touma and Naaza began struggling to reach each other, swinging back and forth as they tried to keep fighting. Shuu Rei Fuan tried to grab at Rajura, who simply scuttled out of reach. "ENOUGH!" Kayura crossed her arms and scowled. "If you three insist on ACTING like children, I shall PUNISH you like children. Come, Rajura. We shall go and have a CIVIL, MATURE conversation with Shin Mouri and Usagi Tsukino. These... BOYS can hang here until they learn to get along." The man in purple snickered and followed his Empress into the bushes. There was a long silence as the trio of Yoroiden pondered their actions. "Well, I hope you're happy, Naaza." Touma grumbled. "Now we're stuck here, and it's all your fault." "It is NOT!" The Snake Masho snarled, and lashed at Touma with his free arm. "Is too!" Shuu bellowed, and tried to wrap his fingers around the Masho's neck. Unfortunately, he was at least four feet short in his reach, and after a few minutes of straining, he sighed and gave up. "Well this sucks," Naaza muttered, "we can't even reach each other to fight. Anyone got any better ideas?" "My head hurts," moaned Shuu. "That's because you're upside down, idiot. All the blood is rushing to your brain... for once." Touma tried to cross his arms, then snorted when he remembered he couldn't move them. "Stop making fun of me!" Shuu discovered to his delight that he could, in fact, reach Touma, and began to throttle him. Touma's eyes bulged, and his flailing hand came across Shuu's tetsubo. Pulling it free from the chains wrapped around it, Touma began awkwardly beating Shuu over the head with the iron staff. Naaza cackled as he watched. ********** Kayura sighed as she walked away from the largest display of juvenile behaviour she had seen in three hundred years. "Those Yoroiden..." she groaned. "They may be great warriors, but sometimes they don't even act HALF their age!" Rajura shrugged. "They know their duty, Empress. If this is how they choose to release their stress and anxiety, let them. It won't hurt anybody..." WHAM! POW! CRASH! BOTTLE! "Much..." Rajura finished, and shrugged again. Where had they gotten the bottle, he wondered idly as he and his Empress wandered away to converse with the only other members of their party who weren't beating each other senseless. "Greetings, Kayura, Rajura!" Shin waved as the two pushed their way through the bushes. "Where's everybody else?" "Oh, they're... hanging out," Rajura suggested, hiding a chuckle behind his gauntlet. "They... might be a while. Maybe we should start without them." ********** "Ami, I swear, I can explain, if we just sit down and discuss this like reasonable people..." Ryo was talking a mile a minute, and he had the uneasy feeling it wasn't helping him at all. Ami Mizuno dragged him through the forest by the wrist and, with a judicious tug, slammed him against a nearby tree. "Don't talk, Ryo," she panted, "just listen." "Yes, ma'am." Ryo shut up. Maybe, he hoped, if he played along, he would survive this encounter. And, if wishes were fishes, he'd eat sushi for every meal. Ami was breathing pretty heavily, and he wasn't too sure he liked the look in her eyes... "Do you have any idea how I felt when you were trying to kill poor Hotaru?" Ami stomped her foot. "Uhm... is there an answer that WON'T get me killed?" Ryo flinched and waited for the hammer to fall. After a few seconds, he dared to open one eye enough for a peek. Aw, no... she WOULDN'T... she COULDN'T... SHE WAS! OH CRAP! She was CRYING! Therein lay Ryo Sanada's deepest, darkest secret. Despite the armour, the powers, the virtue, and the weapons, he was, at heart, an ordinary guy. And NO guy, regardless of age, could EVER handle a crying girl. It was like Kyptonite. He was as good as dead. "How could you hurt me like that, Ryo Sanada?" Ami sniffled and turned away from him. Ryo blinked in confusion. Hurt her? He'd never even laid a hand on her... oh. He immediately began studying his feet, as though they were the most interesting things he had seen in his life. Nuts. Couldn't she just pound on him, like her friends? "Ami..." Reaching out, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Ami..." This was going to be the hardest thing he ever said. "Ami, I... was wrong. I wasn't thinking, I didn't get all the information, and I screwed up." Slowly, he began to massage her neck. "I am really, truly, sorry. I would NEVER have hurt you on purpose..." "Hmmm?" Ami's eyes were half closed as her head rocked back and forth. What was he talking about? Something about being sorry, she guessed. Well, that was good, then. Now she wouldn't have to be so angry about... about... whatever that was. If he would just stop rubbing her shoulders, she was sure she would remember. Or, she corrected herself, he could move down a little lower, and that would be fine too. "Ryo?" "Yes, Ami?" True to her thoughts, the boy began to rub her lower back. She was pretty stiff, he noticed in passing, probably from all the stress of the past few days. Oh, THAT was her name. She made a note of it, for later. "Ryo... I..." As usual, the Mizuno shyness chose the perfect moment to rear its ugly head, and clamped down hard on her next two words. "I..." "Have a plan for finding Usagi and the other Yoriden?" Ryo guessed, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her from behind. Ami was pretty sure that wasn't what she was going to say, but frankly, she felt a little dizzy, so she just nodded. "Brilliant! Let's go tell the rest of the Senshi!" Ami nodded and headed off into the bushes. Ryo chuckled and silently counted to ten. Hotaru had been right : backrubs really threw that girl for a loop. Any minute now, she'd realise camp was in the OTHER direction... Sure enough, Sailor Mercury stormed back through the clearing, back to her usual calm and professional self. "Not a word," she snapped in passing, "and I'm still mad at you." Ryo shrugged. Ah, well. It had been worth a try... ********** Seiji Date looked up and waved as Ryo and Ami walked back into the camp. He and Minako had arrived soon after their friends had left, and everybody had more or less settled down, although Hotaru was still getting squeezed so tightly by her 'parents' that she was starting to turn blue. "Hey, Ryo! Still breathing?" Ryo snorted. "Last time I checked... and what's so funny?" Seiji didn't even bother hiding his grin as he replied. "The fact that you got in trouble and I didn't." Minako quickly reached out and smacked him in the back of the head. "Just because I'm willing to admit you're on our side doesn't mean you aren't in trouble, Seiji." Minako smiled. "The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure..." "Wow." Seiji was stunned into silence. "Did you all hear that? She got one RIGHT! Minako got a quote RIGHT!" She smacked him again, and the blond Yoroiden burst into laughter from his new seat on the ground. "Anyway," Ryo said, before the violence could escalate, "Ami has a brilliant and ingenious plan for finding Sailor Moon and the rest of the Yoroiden." He placed his hands on his hips and turned to the shorter blue haired girl. "Well, Ami? What's the plan?" Seiji blinked and turned to the white cat sitting on his chest. "Woah. These girls actually have PLANS? We usually just start hitting things until they go away. Can I switch to your team?" Artemis shook his head. "Nah... you'd never be able to pull off the skirt with THOSE legs." Ami had meanwhile pulled out her portable computer. With a touch at her temple, an ice-blue visor slid over her eyes. "As you all know," she explained as she typed, "I can usually use my computer to scan our world for dark energy, like the kind given off by youma." "Yeah?" Rei Hino asked, brushing back her waist-length black hair. "What's your point? Everything here's a youma... how will that help us?" "Because," Ami replied, "Usagi and the Yoroiden are probably the only living creatures here besides us who AREN'T sources of dark energy. If I can configure my computer properly, then they ought to show up as sensor 'ghosts', places where there isn't a signal, but should be. If we track down the 'ghosts', then one of them MUST be one of the Yoroiden." "I don't know," Makoto said cautiously. "Won't that take, like, days? We need to find Touma -and Shuu, and Shin- as soon as possible." "There's one other option," Setsuna suggested. "We can use Hotaru as bait for one of the Masho. Anubis at least would be sure to strike," she said, smiling in a very predatory manner, "and I could beat their location out of him." "NO!" Haruka and Michiru chorused, tightening their grip on Hotaru, who squeaked in protest. "We're not letting you hurt our little Hotaru-chan!" "Michiru-mama! Haruka-papa! Stop treating me like a child!" Hotaru objected. "I'm almost thirteen years old! I took care of myself for DAYS without any of you to help me!" "Technically," Ryo interjected, "I was there to protect you. Although," he added as an afterthought, "you DID wind up saving MY life more often than I saved yours..." "I thought we had agreed not to discuss that," Seiji said in a miserable tone of voice. "I promised nothing!" Ryo replied indignantly. ********** The next day started early for the Sailor Senshi and their two allies. Using Ami's plan, which had won by virtue of having the least people with swords opposed to it, they set out at dawn with the nearest 'dead zone' locations mapped out. After an early morning 'discussion' between Seiji and Ryo nearly ended in bloodshed, it was deemed better for everybody's health if they all split up. Makoto Kino and Rei Hino decided to go west, leaving Minako and Seiji to cover the north, Ryo and Hotaru the southeast, and Haruka and Michiru to check out the northwest. Setsuna and Ami were staying at camp to keep everybody in touch, in case any of the 'dead zones' started moving. "Well Rei," Makoto gasped as the two Senshi raced across a rather barren plain of rock, "it looks like this zone is dead for a reason! Where's our next target?" Sailor Mars glanced at the small map showing on her communicator. "Ami, delete site SJ-02." One of the glowing dots on the grid promptly faded. "Looks like the next nearest zone is at vector two, thirty, negative ninety-six. Over there!" She pointed, and her partner was already turning. At this rate, they could cover the nearest twenty zones in their area by dusk, Rei guessed. That was about an eighty kilometre search radius, and if the other teams did as well, one of them HAD to find a Yoroiden search party! Assuming that the other Yoroiden were still looking for Sailor Saturn, which Seiji and Ryo had both assured her they would be. ********** Setsuna Meioh was fifteen, and she had been in the same room for the past five years. Five years, since Rajura had stolen her from her parents, using his magic to make them think they'd never had a child at all. Five years, since she had stopped being human. The iron door creaked open, and she winced at the sudden intrusion of light. Framed in the portal stood Rajura, his long white hair tied behind him in a thick ponytail. He was wearing an eyepatch now, she noticed, and tried to hide her triumphant smile. That alone would make every one of her beatings worthwhile. "You," he said calmly, as he removed his leather gloves, "have been a very bad girl, Setsuna. You are rebellious, tempermental, and a delinquent." She laughed drily, even though it still hurt. "I aim to please, master." "What is your first lesson, Setsuna?" Despite herself, she shuddered. "Pain is an illusion." "And who controls the illusions?" "You do, master." Setsuna hung her head in shame. Rajura entered the cell and cupped her face in his hands. "You," he hissed, "have very pretty blue eyes, Setsuna." Slowly, as she trembled with fear, he poised his thumbs above each eye. "Let's change that..." A strange crimson mist seeped from each thumbnail as he scratched the corneas of her eyes, and Setsuna screamed. Unexpectedly, another form entered her cell. Clad in armour, he grasped Rajura by the wrist. "You pathetic fool! There is no time for your petty revenge now! Lord Arago has summoned you." Rajura glared at the intruder. "Do not presume to tell me my place, boy, and I will not be tempted to put you in yours." The armoured man sneered in reply. "I would welcome such a chance to destroy you, my cycloptic colleague." In a smooth motion, he released the other man's wrist and pointed to the open door. "Go. Now. And do not return." Rajura shrugged. "We will have to continue your lessons some other day, my sweet." Bowing to Setsuna and her new visitor, he left. Setsuna looked up through a veil of pain and confusion to see a stern and gentle face gazing at her. His ice blue eyes seemed to radiate concern as he stroked her cheek. "Your eyes," he said softly. "Do they hurt?" She nodded, and he poured a small vial of liquid into his hand, gently dipping a finger into the pool and rubbing the soothing fluid into her burning eyes. "I'm afraid they will always be red," he told her, "but at least now you will be able to see." He placed the vial back in his belt and stood to leave. Acting almost on instinct, Setsuna reached out and caught his arm, flinching as he turned his gaze back on her. He would hit her, beat her, put her in her place for daring to touch him... But he didn't. Kneeling back down, he gently brushed back some of her long green hair. "What is it?" her savior asked. "Please..." Setsuna whispered. "It's so dark, and I'm so afraid, here... don't leave me." She thought she might know this one, the Masho all the others had spoken of with equal tones of disgust and fear. Perhaps he would protect her. Perhaps he would... "I would be with you tonight... my Lord." The man leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "You are quite beautiful," he whispered, "and you are not safe. I will stay here... for tonight." ********** Setsuna awoke to the sound of Ami Mizuno co-ordinating the search parties outside. The tent was dark as the grave, and for a moment she closed her eyes and tried to pretend he was still there. Her savior, her protector... he had always kept her safe, after that night, to the best of his abilities. She could feel the slick trail of tears as they poured down her face, and she buried her face in a pillow to suppress her sobs. She felt his breath long before she heard anything. Setsuna felt her eyes widen as a sharp steel blade slid gently against her throat. It WAS dark in the tent, she thought, and there was one who gained his strength from such darkness. "Hello again, Sailor Pluto." Anubis grinned as he wrapped his arm around the girl's waist and pulled her tightly against him, pinning her arms. "Now, let's not go making any sounds... we wouldn't want to warn anybody, would we?" "Just tell me what you want, mongrel." Anubis snickered softly. "Mongrel? I like that. Why, I haven't been called that since... well, I suppose we BOTH remember the last person who called me that." Moving the sword away from Setsuna's throat, he smiled. "As for what I want... it's really very simple. I want to make my Empress happy. And that means I kill Sailor Saturn, and anybody else who gets in my way." Setsuna forced herself to smirk, exactly the way her lover used to. It was a look of such calculated arrogance, his own personal way of letting everybody know he was in total control of the situation, and loving every second of it. "Poor little Kujuurou. Four hundred years, and you're still nothing more than a lapdog. A better man might have escaped such mindless servitude..." Now, she thought, toss in his trademark laugh. "What am I saying? A better man DID." Anubis ground his teeth. "Still carrying your torch, aren't you? You'll never admit that anybody could be as good, as noble, as... as HOLY as you beloved saviour! Well here's a hint, girl! Your lover is DEAD! THAT'S what all his nobility and virtue did for him! We couldn't even find anything to bury. So excuse us if we choose not to emulate him." Setsuna snarled. "You aren't even worthy to speak his name, Kujuurou Sasaki!" Surprisingly, Anubis grinned at that. "THERE," he said proudly, "is the little Setsuna I remember! I knew you were still in there somewhere..." Setsuna sighed. "Please, leave this be. Go to your Empress, and tell her that Hotaru is no threat to her. Tell her, for my sake... Uncle Kujuurou." Anubis raised an eyebrow and sheathed his sword. "If you were any other girl," he said softly, "Sailor Saturn would already be dead. Why do you care for her so deeply?" "She is my daughter." There was a sharp intake of breath. "I see." Anubis crossed his arms and leaned back against one of the tent posts. "Well, then. I shall assume she is not a threat. Have you raised her well?" Despite herself, Setsuna smiled bitterly. "As well as you raised me, Uncle Kujuurou. As well as you raised me..." TO BE CONTINUED...