Greetings, yet again!
^_^
Good news! With the return of my old, DECENT computer, I can finally start
attaching these chapters again! Now that my days of pasting are behind me, I
hope to say farewell to those formatting problems. Also, I can make the
chapters as big as I want again!
Well, with that over, let me insert my usual requests for C&C here. I really
do appreciate the stuff (heck, I practically use it for air! ^_^), so by all
means feel free to send some my way. Even if you just want to say "hi".
Okay, that's over with. Let the fic begin!
But first... I feel I should inform you that previous Ronin Summer story
arcs are available at my webpage,
http://dataraven_659.tripod.com/roninsummer.html
and at my mirrorpage,
http://www.geocities.com/Area51Underworld/4709/roninsummer1.html
(See? I CAN remember, if you just remind me often enough!)
Now, let's get on with the fic, shall we?
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : Some of these guys aren't 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 : DARK CRUSADE
A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
Chapter Three : Desperate Measures
The sun was just barely beginning its climb over the horizon,
pinkish haze struggling against the grimy, smoke-filled sky and shadowy
clouds. Even dawn was a battle in the Dark Kingdom. The first fingers
of light inched their way along the courtyard of a gutted castle,
smoke still curling seductively from every open window. The light
passed over several armoured forms, lying on the cobblestones and
slowly releasing the last tendrils of black mist from their shattered
bodies. Broken weapons scattered the ground like pine needles in a
forest, and a slight breeze toyed listlessly with the tattered remnants
of a battle standard still clutched in the deathgrip of one yauja.
A single figure moved through the scene, storming along with
little regard for what - or who - he was stepping in. Muscles rolled
on his massive frame like rubber balls in a nylon bag, and he ground
his teeth together as he pushed the massive drawbridge open with
one hand. He was bald, and his bare torso was covered with scar tissue
earned in centuries of battle.
"Vyne," he snarled to the slim young man standing outside
the gates, "what in the name of Mother are YOU doing here? I am
expecting Erdge back any second now..."
"I'm afraid our dear sister is a bit... delayed... at the
moment, Brother Thraw." Emerald eyes narrowed, as the man turned and
glanced over his shoulder, wings fluttering nervously before settling
back against his shoulders.
"She has been gone for nearly eight hours!" Thraw protested,
"and I cannot be expected to lead this search alone!"
"Have no fear, Brother Thraw. Our GLORIOUS leader Pedri," and
his delicate features twisted with distaste at the name, "ordered me
here in her place." Again Thraw's brother shuddered, and a number of
dark feathers drifted free of his ebony wings. The sharp, curved
talons on Vyne's massive three-toed feet were clutching the ground
convulsively, and the rock began to crumble. Despite himself, Thraw
grinned as he recalled the times his brother had done much the same to
an enemy's skull.
"Very well," he grumbled. "If Mother demands, then I suppose I
can stomach working with you for a short time."
Vyne raised one arched eyebrow, his short black hair ruffling
in the breeze as he stretched his huge wings to their full extension.
"You do realise," he said, "that if the GREAT Pedri should grow
impatient, it will be your turn to report to him. Perhaps he'll take
your other ear, this time, just to complete his collection."
Thraw self-consciously rubbed the thick scars covering the left
side of his head. "I have prisoners to interrogate," he said gruffly,
and turned to re-enter the castle.
"I suppose it's too bad we haven't converted a few : then they
could have some skeleton keys!" Vyne smirked down at his sibling, then
sighed as the man left without acknowledging him. "I suppose," he
muttered to himself, "it was too much to ask I be partnered with Holts.
At least she laughs at my jokes." With a final glance of disgust at
his brother, the winged man flapped his wings and soared off, gliding
the wind currents in search of his quarry.
An otherwise perfectly innocent bush that was growing nearby
began to rotate and lifted out of the ground. From between its roots,
a single blue eye scanned the barren ground in front of the castle.
"Well," its owner sighed, "I suppose that's the best news we
could expect." The bush slowly lowered back into place, and Rajura
turned to his companions.
"What do we do now?" Anubis was still holding one arm against
his side and wheezing in a most unhealthy way. The manner in which he
was splurting blood from his chest with every breath didn't encourage
the Spider Masho any, either. A little further down the tunnel, Kayura
shivered and hugged herself. A rather flimsy cotton shift was useless
at fending off the damp chill of Rajura's underground warren. She had
propped her ringed shakujo staff against one of the packed earth walls,
and was now sitting on the floor, her sable hair tumbling around her
form as she rested her forehead against her bare knees.
"Well," Rajura said calmly, dropping back down to the floor and
closing his eye as a small amount of the soil above him shook loose
from the impact and covered him in dirt, "we have a number of options."
Removing the eyepatch that covered his left eye, he made a face and
shook a stunned earthworm off of it. "You DID bring your armour,
didn't you?"
"Kujuurou insisted," Kayura said with a shaky smile as she
reached over and grasped Anubis' hand in her own. "He always has been
overprotective of me, you know."
"With good reason," the man argued, "as it would seem." He
gasped in pain, and clutched his side a little tighter as the blood
ran over his forearm and down his side, staining his sleeve as red as
the rest of his once white nightshirt. Slowly, he lowered himself to
the ground next to his empress.
"Excellent!" Rajura smiled slightly as he reattached his
patch, brushing his long silver hair out of the way. "With a good plan,
we ought to be able to free our armour from their clutches..."
"Our armour? What about our people?" Kayura rose to her feet,
the golden sigil of loyalty burning from her forehead. "You heard that
winged man : these creatures are planning to torture my subjects! I
must rescue them!"
"My Empress," Anubis said quickly, "I cannot allow you to do
something so risky and dangerous..."
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to not allow me, my love." Kayura
kissed the hand she held, and smiled. "I have a duty to these youma,
and I must do everything in my power to help them."
"Then I shall guard you to the best of my ability." Anubis
picked up the javelin he had been carrying, and stoically ignored the
blood running down the leg of his hakama.
"You shall not, Anubis." Rajura admonished his fellow Masho,
waving a finger in the air for emphasis. "If this enemy of ours is
using our castle, they will have posted a garrison of their troops,
and one can travel unnoticed where two or three would be caught. I
shall go alone, and bring back as many as I can."
"No," Kayura said gently, "I shall be the one who goes."
"But, Empress! My knowledge of the castle..."
"Is second only to your knowledge of Earth, which is where you
shall be going with Anubis." Kayura shook her head, and reached for
her staff. "I would appreciate it if you two could find Naaza for me.
After all, we don't want him returning to a castle that is no longer
ours, do we?" She gestured, and a large gateway rose from the ground,
framing a swirling maelstrom of shapes and colours.
"But, we..."
"Your Empress," Kayura said primly, "has spoken. This gate will
reopen in exactly four hours, whether I am here or not." Noticing the
worried look on her fiance's face, the young woman leaned over and
kissed his hand again. "Which I have every intention of being, my love!
I am merely taking precautions. Your yoroi and your Empress shall both
be awaiting your return."
Anubis still looked concerned, but slowly began to inch towards
the portal Kayura had opened. Rajura reached into his sleeve and
drew out a handful of what appeared to be eggs. Passing them to Kayura,
he spoke quickly.
"These," he said as he handed her two white eggs, "are pepper.
Throw them in the eyes of your opponent. This," he handed her a brown
egg, "is a smokescreen. Be sure to cover your retreat, so they don't
follow you down here! And this," referring to the egg he gave to her,
dyed blue, "is sleeping powder. Hold your breath when you use it. And
be careful! These are my last ones."
"What," Kayura asked, as she pointed at the last egg Rajura
held, "about the red one?"
"The red one," Rajura said as he held it out to her, "goes
boom. Be VERY careful with the red one. Do you understand me?"
"I'll be fine." Kayura waved as the two men entered the glowing
portal. "I'll see you in four hours!" The light flared, and the gate
she had created slowly sank back into the ground from whence it came.
With a rueful smile, Kayura picked up her staff and began walking back
the way she had come. It was rather amusing, when she thought about
it : she, the Empress of the Dynasty and leader of the largest army in
existence, was about to attack a castle full of enemies... armed with
five eggs and a stick.
**********
Kayura gently brushed the tapestry aside and slid out into the
kitchens. Glancing at the wall behind her, she tried to remember how
Rajura had worked the panel from this side. There had been a lot of
smoke, but she was pretty sure that he had tilted the spice rack to
the left...
There was a soft grinding sound, and Kayura checked behind the
tapestry again. Instead of the tunnel she had just exited, only bare
stone stared back at her. Excellent. Resting her staff against one
shoulder, she carefully removed each of the golden rings. Clanking
shakujo staves were good for scaring away insects and evil spirits,
but they weren't designed for sneaking around with.
With a soft creak, the door handle Kayura had been reaching
for began to turn of its own accord. The raven-haired empress cursed
as she stepped back, yanking her hand away as though the turning
handle was about to leap off of the oaken door and bite her. The
hinges squealed, and the door slowly scraped its way along the stone
floor as Kayura began searching in every direction for somewhere,
ANYWHERE to hide...
A pair of black slippered feet padded quietly along the floor
as a sickeningly familiar figure glided into the kitchen with
surprising grace. It looked like little better than a child's
scarecrow, tall and thin, with pieces of bone jutting haphazardly from
beneath its ragged ebony garb. A thin coating of slime had apparently
soaked through the material and cemented all of its torn and shredded
rags to each other, making the creature glisten wetly in the light
of the kitchen as it began its systematic search.
First, the creature began to tap the walls, moving around the
room with sure, fluid movements. Although there were no apparent eyes
in the mass of wrapped cloths that passed for its face, the monster
moved its head from left to right as though looking -or smelling- for
someone.
After a few moments, the creature reached to its waist and
pulled free a jagged sword. Like nearly everything else that had been
in contact with the thing's body, the blade was coated in slime, and
great dollops of crimson goo splattered on the granite floor as it
swung its weapon towards a row of large cupboards lining the far wall.
Stealthily, the monster resumed its movements, padding towards
the cupboards on the balls of its feet. The blade lifted slightly, its
corroded edge carefully avoiding the hard counter that it might have
otherwise scraped against. The black-garbed creature slowly spread its
feet and gripped the katana in both hands, handle near its navel and
tip held high. It stood in that position for several seconds, with not
even the sound of breath to break the stillness as it tilted its head
to one side and listened. Suddenly it shuffled forward, lifting the
blade handle to its chest and thrusting ahead at the level of its
own throat. With a loud crack of splitting wood, the blade smashed
through the cupboard door. The creature remained motionless as a darker
red fluid began to ooze from the hole, mixing with the slime dripping
from its katana. Turning the sword slightly and twisting its hip, the
creature swung its blade free and tore the door from its hinges.
A shattered jar of strawberry preserves sat on the shelf. With
a low gurgle of alarm, the creature spun on the ball of one foot,
shifting its blade from one guard position to another as its head
frantically turned left and right.
It should have looked up.
**********
Kayura tried heroically not to shudder as she applied the
muck-covered rags to her own bare flesh. They were not cold, as she
had expected, but actually quite warm. She cast a glance at the
burbling red puddle that used to wear them and shrugged. Its bones
had melted like ice in the summer sun once she pulled her staff out
of its brainpan.
Suppressing a final gag reflex, she slid the slimy hood up over
her head and wrapped the last lengths of black bandage around her face.
The clothes stank, too, but she figured that would only make it harder
for anybody to tell her apart from the... whatever the hell it was
she had killed. A kind of familiar smell, too, she had to admit as she
picked up her staff again and slid Rajura's eggs into the sodden rags
she now wore. Reaching out, she gripped the door with one glove and
stepped out into the hallway. It seemed deserted, she noticed, and
nodded to herself. So far, so good, she guessed.
Partially hiding the staff against her side, Kayura began to
slink down the corridors of her own castle. She noticed with disgust
that she was leaving great, dripping footprints behind her, and was
less than pleased to notice that the stone floors were all but coated
in similar marks. After she obliterated these creatures, she'd have
to burn all of her rugs and buy new ones.
**********
The yoroi had been almost embarassingly easy to locate, Kayura
reflected as she tucked the three glowing orbs into her rags, not
that she was complaining. Their invaders must not have searched any of
the upper floors yet, or else hadn't realized the importance of three
coloured gems with glowing kanji embedded in them.
She slowly rose to her feet and gulped as she noticed the
young man leaning against the wall. Silken curtains billowed in the
breeze, and she knew instinctively how he had entered unheard. He was
quite handsome, in a bishounen way, and his black hair was artfully
ruffled by the wind, a lock hanging down between his eyes. His uniform
was navy blue, a torso harness that crossed over his chest and left
his back and midriff bare while covering his arms with the dark fabric,
each sleeve marred by white kanji that she couldn't quite make out.
The same white kanji ran down either leg of his pants, which terminated
at the knee in golden braces.
From the knees up, he looked quite human, a tall, slightly
pale man with the thin, wiry build of a gymnast. His huge ebony wings
were folded behind him like a cape of feathers, and his glowing emerald
eyes were filled with humour and curiosity. A soft clicking sound
filled the room, and Kayura found her gaze drawn down to his massive
feet, the gigantic, three-toed feet that belonged on a condor, or some
other giant bird of prey. He was tapping the curved talons on his
left foot against the stone floor in impatience.
"Now what," he asked, in a mock-serious tone, "would one of our
foot soldiers be doing raiding somebody's chambers? I must confess, I
rather thought at first you might have been sent by Erdge to do some
vicarious looting, but then you did... THAT." He pointed, and Kayura
flinched ever so slightly. "Our soldiers do not know fear, and they
certainly never flinch. Which means you are not one of ours." He
grinned, and bowed, sweeping one wing aside like a courtier's cape.
"Vyne, at your service. No reason we can't be civil about this..."
Kayura fished out one of Rajura's eggs and hurled it at the
man, who snapped one wing in front of his face. The white ovoid cracked
against the massive, feathered limb shielding him, and a cloud of
pepper wafted into the room. The wing slowly lowered, and Vyne's eyes
glowed green as he scowled at her.
"Now I ask you," he said in an offended tone, "was that nice?"
As his wing swung clear, he drew a strange weapon from its place on
his belt. Kayura took a few steps back as she reached behind her for
her staff. He was carrying a manriki-gusari, a six-foot length of chain
with spike-studded lead weights hanging from either end. With almost
lazy ease, he began to whirl the chain from one hand to the other,
the lead weights whirring through the air with a dull buzzing sound
as he sent one hurtling towards her head.
Kayura leapt back, and the weight crashed down on the floor.
Lunging forward, Vyne snapped his wrist and sent the second weight
whirring towards her even as he kicked the first back into his hand.
The young woman ducked, and the weight droned past her ear with lethal
efficiency. Though she hated to give up ground, she found herself
slowly inching away from the whirling chain and its deadly ends.
Crouching, she kept her body low and tried to follow the path of her
opponent's weapon with her eyes. The manner in which Vyne spun and
twirled the length of chain was making it all but impossible for her
to tell where his next strike would cone from, but she thought... she
had seen...
There! As Vyne shifted his stance forward, he telegraphed his
strike ever so slightly. The weight whipped forward once more, and
Kayura intercepted it with her arm. As the chain tangled around her
slime-covered sleeve, she jerked back as hard as she could, hoping to
yank the weapon from his hands.
This, of course, was exactly the move he had been waiting for
her to perform. With a frim tug from his right hand, he threw her off
balance and pulled her arm away from her body, even as his left hand
sent the second weight straight for the bridge of her nose. The entire
maneuver had taken him all of ten seconds, and Kayura barely had time
to lower her head and take the blow on the crown of her skull. She was
pretty sure she heard something crunch, and the room began to spin in
several unusual directions at once.
With a low groan, the empress of the Dynasty wobbled slightly
from side to side, then flopped onto her back. The ceiling, she
noticed, was spinning clockwise. She was pretty sure she could have
dealt with it, but the walls had decided to spin counterclockwise, and
she just wasn't ready to handle that at the moment.
"Why did you do that?" Vyne asked, with what sounded like
genuine concern. "If you hadn't, my blow would have killed you
instantly. You wouldn't even have felt it, I assure you." His wings
fluttered nervously as he ran one hand through his hair. "Now look at
you! I'm going to have to get my talons dirty just putting you
out of your misery."
Kayura rolled her eyes and tried to sit up. Halfway to her
feet, a small explosion of red behind her eyes told her that had been
a bad idea. She clutched her head and sank back down onto the floor.
So much for her plan of running from him. A hard lump pressing against
the small of her back gently reminded her of an alternate plan. After
all, the kusari-gama was a weapon that favoured striking with both
hands as well, and she was a veritable master with the kusari-gama.
Hoping against hope, she let one hand drift under her, and
faked a hiss of pain, as though she had injured her spine in falling.
Vyne sighed in resignation, and began to stalk towards her, his huge
talons digging chunks of stone from the floor as he clenched his feet
reflexively. The object tumbled free from her rags, and she smiled
behind the cloth that covered her face. That smile fell as she gently
groped the object she held. Not even a yoroi sphere at all, let alone
hers. It was another of Rajura's eggs.
Vyne was nearly on top of her, lifting his massive, scaly foot
above her head. His curved talons gleamed like knives in the torchlight
as he prepared to strike. In desperation, Kayura hurled the egg she
held. At the last second, she gasped as she realised the colour of the
egg she had thrown. She made sure to hold that gasp as Vyne lifted his
wing to shield himself again...
...And the blue shell shattered against his feathered appendage
like glass on stone, shrouding his form in a cloud of thick grey mist.
Vyne fell backwards, landing solidly and coughing as he swatted at the
cloud engulfing him with both arms and wings. Rolling over, he rose
to his hands and knees, hacking violently into one fist and blinking
his watering eyes.
"What have you..." Vyne stopped in mid-word and shook his head
like a wet dog, sinking down to his elbows. "Have," he tried again,
"you... done... y-you... littl..."
Kayura quickly backed out of the room as Vyne flopped fast
first onto the floor. His eyes had shut, and his wings were splayed
out to their full extension, nearly brushing each wall. One down, she
told herself. She wasn't exactly certain how many more there were to
go, but she wasn't worried. After all, there were three eggs left...
and she still had her stick.
**********
Thraw growled deep in his throat as he stared down at the
still form of his brother. Vyne was not usually one for sleeping on the
job : not one, in fact, for sleeping at all, as far as anyone had been
able to tell. Now, however, his flighty sibling was a lump of cloth
and feathers on the floor, which barely even twitched. If Vyne weren't
breathing, Thraw would assume the man was dead.
"This," he muttered softly, "is what happens when I work with
you, Vyne. Things go wrong, and I get blamed." His nostrils flared
slightly as he sniffed the air. A faint scent still hung in the room,
and Thraw quickly shook his head to fight off a sudden sense of
exhaustion. "Sleeping powder," he hissed. "You feather-brained dolt! I
will NOT let you ruin me again!" With a sharp kick to the sleeping
man's ribs, Thraw banged the oaken door open and stormed out of the
room, reaching for a thick two-headed axe that hung on his belt.
"Sound the alarm!" He bellowed at the soldiers waiting for him
in the hallway. Reaching out, he grabbed one and pulled its face close
to his. "Inform Pedri that we have intruders," he snarled, "and tell
him that their heads will be on his desk by dawn."
**********
Kayura stuck her head out of the door, glancing up and down the
deserted corridor. Stepping out, she turned back and motioned with one
hand. The Storm Senshi moved past her, quietly tip-toeing towards the
curving marble staircase.
"Just a little bit farther," Kayura whispered to them. "Head
down the stairs and take a left. We're leaving through the kitchens!"
"The kitchens?" Thunderstorm looked over her shoulder at the
black-garbed woman. "There's no way out of the kitchens! It's a dead
end!"
"Yeah," Icestorm said absently. "I mean, unless you, you know,
count that secret tunnel that Spidey dug in there. And he never tells
anybody about those!" Noticing the stares she was getting from her
sisters, the blue-haired girl shrugged. "What? I was stealing some
cookies from the cookie jar, and I, like, saw him hooking up the door.
People tune me out. Sometimes they forget I'm there."
Takenoko attempted to creep stealthily down the hall. Creeping,
he soon decided, was for creatures that weighed less and lacked hooves.
He was too damn big to sneak around. With a slight chuckle, he settled
for keeping his footsteps at a dull thud, and tried not to get his
horns caught in the chandelier as he followed the three Senshi down
the staircase. Behind him, Kayura seemed to having trouble with her
yauja guards.
"I'm sorry," she tried to explain, "but I'm the only one here
who blends in! I have to go ahead, and make sure that the path is
clear!"
"We understand that," the silver yauja said calmly, "yet we
feel you should at least allow us an honour guard. Say... four?"
"Yoen, wouldn't you say my ability to blend in is a bit
ruined by having four yauja following me like dogs on a leash?"
Yoen folded his arms across his armoured chest. "Then I
suggest that you pass your disguise on to one of these... youma...
creatures. Allow them to take the risks, while we protect you."
"No." Kayura duplicated her captain's stubborn posture. "I
am not taking these rags off until we get somewhere safe."
"And why not? One of the Storm Senshi could easily..."
"Because," she said primly, "I would then be naked. I'm not
wearing anything under this disguise, as I explained the last twenty
times we had this discussion. Can we please just go?"
Yoen seemed to consider that fact for a moment, then nodded to
the yauja behind him. "Shouen, Shien, take point with Kokuen." The
yauja in crimson, violet, and ebony each nodded and headed off to join
the youma as Yoen turned to the two still standing before him. "Hakuen
and Baien, you shall form the rear guard with myself. The Empress...
will be serving as our scout."
"Thank you, Captain Yoen." Kayura bowed slightly and headed
down the stairs.
The silver yauja inclined his helmet slightly in a nod, then
turned back to the two soldiers standing beside him. In unison, the two
slammed their armoured fists against the gems in their chests and
extended their hands before them. A web of energy burst forth from each
gem, and coalesced in their waiting grasp, forming into the traditional
weapon of each guard. Hakuen shouldered his gleaming pike, and Baien
quickly spun his halbred into a guard position.
"We protect her," Yoen said simply, as his own gem burst to
life and summoned forth its weapon. "That is all."
**********
Kayura opened the door to the kitchens and glanced in. Nothing
seemed to have been disturbed since she left, but there was a growing
sense of unease in her stomach. "Hurry," she said as she motioned the
first three of her yauja into the room, followed quickly by the Storm
Senshi and the lumbering Takenoko. "There's something going on that
I don't trust..."
"EMPRESS!" A voice suddenly called. "SAVE YOURSE-"
There was a loud crunching sound, then the teeth-grinding noise
of ripping metal. Kayura glanced back into the hallway just in time
to see an armoured form plummet over the balcony, pike slipping from
its nerveless fingers. A thick plume of black mist billowed from the
massive tear that stretched from its crotch to its forehead. With a
clatter, the empty white shell hit the granite floor and broke into
several pieces.
"Hakuen!" Kayura stared in disbelief as the final dark tendrils
of his soul pulled free of the gaping wound and dissipated into the
air.
"Don't go anywhere, little one!" A voice cried over the
balcony, where the sounds of battle could be heard. "I'll be down as
soon as I finish these friends of yours!" A number of familiar black
figures began pouring over the edge of the parapet, swords held high
as they slammed into the hard floor. The later ones used the bodies
of their comrades to soften their fall.
"Oh, wonderful." Kayura quickly began to pat the tattered rags
covering her body, smiling as she pulled free an orb. A purple orb,
with the kanji of 'Endurance' embedded in it. "Shit!" Without looking,
she tossed the yoroi crystal to Sailor Lightstorm. "Hold this," she
said irritably, and continued her search. Seconds later, a chocolate
brown orb marked with the kanji for 'Piety' hurtled over her shoulder.
"This too," Kayura said, and Lightstorm had to lunge forward to catch
the yoroi before it hit the floor.
Finally, she found the items she had been looking for. "Shien,
take Shouen and Kokuen and scout ahead of us. Make sure these bastards
haven't found the tunnels!" If they had, she thought to herself, then
Rajura, Anubis, and Naaza were all as good as dead.
Lifting her left hand, she threw the brown egg against the
floor. As the thick purple smokescreen began to fill the corridor, she
lifted the second item she held into the air. The kanji of 'Loyalty'
shone briefly from both the golden orb in her hand and from her own
forehead as she spoke.
"BUSSO, ONI!"
**********
Baien spun his halbred, using the length of the staff to block
both of Thraw's blades. Stepping back, the grey-armoured yauja swung
for the man's head, hoping to split his skull like a ripe melon. To his
disappointment, Thraw was able to duck under the swing and leap
forward, ramming his short swords into the stomach of the armoured
form.
"Don't feel bad," Thraw said with a smirk. "That was just me
shredding your insides."
Baien slammed the man with an armoured backhand, a slight
trickle of black mist rising from the wound. "Don't feel bad," he
parroted, "that was just you learning that yauja don't HAVE
insides." Around the two, a swarm of black clothed forms were trying
to make it down the stairs. Though there were no cries of pain, the
constant thud of falling bodies made it obvious that Yoen was
objecting to their plan. As a last resort, many of the creatures had
taken to leaping over the handrail in an attempt to get past him.
Reaching down, Baien pulled loose the two swords that were
still stuck in his abdomen and tossed them over the edge. The axehead
mounted on his polearm gleamed in the torchlight as he stepped forward.
Thraw grinned, showing off his pointed teeth.
"You're going to be a hard kill," he chuckled. "I love a good
challenge." Reaching down to his belt, he drew an axe with one hand
and a mace with the other. Baien blocked the mace as it swung at his
head, and felt his shell tear as the axe dug deep into his side. The
trickle of mist had turned into a small plume, rapidly rising towards
the ceiling. Thraw stepped back, laughing as he tossed the axe aside.
"Tell you what," he said, "how about I only use one hand? That
ought to be a little more fair..."
Baien forced himself to his feet, and used his halbred to
behead a passing creature. Spinning the weapon, he used the butt of
the polearm to crush another's skull. A swift kick smashed one's
ribcage and knocked it into several of its fellows. Yoen had advanced
from the head of the stairs, his bisento sweeping in broad arcs as
crimson goo splattered over his pristine silver armour. The thick,
heavy blade of his weapon was cleaving through the enemy like an axe
through firewood, yet their opponents kept coming.
"Allow me the privelege of silencing this fool, good Baien."
Yoen shook his bisento, knocking off a dollop of the rancid red slime
that now coated the blade.
"No." Baien leaned slightly on his halbred, and turned to the
silver yauja that was ostensibly his captain. "Go to Kayura. I shall
guard her from this fiend. We protect HER, remember?"
Yoen reluctantly began to back away. "Beware, Baien. It was he
who killed Hakuen. And our fellows, the night before." That said, the
yauja captain leapt off of the balcony and never looked back.
Thraw shook his head sadly. "You seem to be an honourable
opponent, monster. I shall treasure these moments we have spent
together for all eternity. Farewell." Mace held low, he glided in and
dodged the head of Baien's halbred, shattering the shaft of the weapon
with his elbow as the heavy mace swung up and smashed against the side
of Baien's helmet. The yauja fell to his knees, and the mace smashed
against his head again. Thraw laughed pleasantly as he swung back and
let the studded metal club drop onto his opponent's head once more.
Baien landed on the floor. His helmet had cracked wide open,
and he looked down at himself as Thraw continued to pound on the empty
shell. A thick cloud of black writhed around the two forms, and Baien
felt a slight twinge of regret.
After that, he felt nothing at all.
**********
Takenoko bellowed as he swept an armful of the black soldiers
into a convenient wall. There was a delightful crunch, and crimson
fluid splurted from their rags like toothpaste oozing from its tube.
With a vicious snarl, the minotaur stomped his hooves against the
ground and knocked several more of the things sprawling. Ignoring the
bodies scattered beneath his feet, he lowered his horns and charged
into another knot of the creatures. Bones snapped under his feet like
dry kindling, and he felt a slight resistance against his shoulders.
The next thing he knew, he had nearly slammed into the far
wall. He wondered where the enemy standing in front of him had gone.
Then he looked down at himself and wondered how he was going to clean
all of the red slime out of his fur. Time to worry about that later,
he decided, and slammed another four of the things out of existence
with a single massive fist.
"What in the nine hells are you little heifers DOING here?" He
snarled, as Sailor Lightstorm blasted past him in a nimbus of energy,
obliterating the faceless creatures all around her. "The Empress gave
orders to retreat! Get your tails in that damn hole, or I'll put them
there myself!"
"Hey, we're TRYING, okay?" Thunderstrom grunted as one of the
shadowy creatures punched her in the stomach. With a curse, she struck
it with a bolt of lightning. "It's not like these guys are here to
check our tickets!"
"I said GET!" Takenoko shook one fist in the general direction
of the three women as he swatted four more opponents like flies.
"Kayura's trying to hold these things off! WE CAN'T LEAVE UNTIL YOU
THREE DO! NOW GET! GET! GET!"
"Alright, already!" Thunderstorm began battling back towards
the thick cloud of purple smoke that still obscured the other end of
the hall. "We're, gone, gone, gone! They're all yours, Beefsteak!"
"Later!" Icestorm waved as she vaulted over one creature and
planted her feet in the head of another. Lightstorm settled merely
for blowing a lock of blond hair out of her eyes and saluting briefly
as she disappeared back into the crush.
**********
Kayura swung her scythe, and the enemies parted before her like
water. Dark leather overcoat flaring around her armoured body like a
cape, she flung herself into battle with wild abandon. It was almost
a Zen experience, she thought to herself as she flipped forward and
drove a spiked elbow through the skull of an opponent. She swung,
and she swung, and the enemies fell down. Most of them were in more
pieces than when they started, but she could hardly be blamed if they
were poor losers, could she?
A swift kick to the leg of one creature drove its knee back the
wrong way with a satisfying splintering sound, and the fiend dropped.
The five of its allies that tried to take advantage of her ditraction
were quickly introduced to the clawed weight that hung on the end of
her kusari-gama. Tugging on the chain, Kayura retrieved the weight
and plunged her scythe through the torn fabric that covered one
creature's ribcage. The weight flew through the air again, and a
skull cracked like an egg.
"My Empress!" Yoen raced towards her, spinning his bisento like
a giant propeller and hacking a path through the swarm of black bodies
that seperated him from his ruler. "This enemy seems endless! Baien
and Hakuen have already been taken! I must request we flee this place,
before we are overwhelmed!"
Kayura smiled grimly. "Head for the kitchen, Yoen! Takenoko and
I are right behind you!" She lifted her weight above head and hurled
it into the floor. "QUAKE WITH FEAR!" An intricate web of chains
burst from the ground and tore through the foes before her. Yoen
raced for the kitchen, and Kayura peered through the forest of metal
links until she saw the giant form of Takenoko picking his way
towards her. Other than a gentle rain of crimson slime, they seemed
to be alone in the halway. She guessed that these creatures were a
little less hardy than the average Trooper she had used these chains
on before.
The sense of peace and quiet was abruptly broken as a spinning
metal weapon whirred through the air and severed every single link in
her chains. It bobbed and weaved, flying in a great arc until it
ended up back in the hands of its owner. Thraw smiled warmly as he
tucked the razor-edged boomerang back in its place on his belt.
"You," he said as he leapt down onto the floor, "are a tough
one, aren't you? You're going to cause Mother no end of trouble..."
"I have to admit," Kayura said with a shrug, "I was kind of
planning on it, yes. Is that going to be a problem with you?" She
tugged the end of her kusari-gama, and the clawed weight popped out
of the floor, landing in her left hand.
"Uh-huh." Thraw began to advance on her, drawing a pair of
wicked-looking daggers. "BIG problem."
"Oh. Well..." Kayura pressed her index finger against her lower
lip, and pretended to think for a minute. "Tough shit," she finished
with a grin, and Takenoko's giant hand clamped around Thraw's skull.
"I think," Takenoko rumbled, "you're going to cause US no end
of trouble. I think maybe I should just squish your head. How's that
sound, you son of a bitch?"
Thraw's eyes narrowed. "WHAT," he asked with lethal menace,
"did you just call Mother?"
Kayura leapt forward, bringing her scythe blade up for a lethal
blow. Thraw suddenly whipped his arm in front of her, and the blade
dug deeply into his flesh. With a laugh, Thraw pulled the weapon from
her hands, reaching up and grabbing a fistfull of her overcoat.
He hurled her down the hall, and then tossed Takenoko over his
shoulder. The minotaur landed with a soid thud, and Thraw quickly
straddled the youma's arm, twisting Takenoko's wrist with both hands
until the bones snapped. The minotaur screamed, and Thraw laughed as
he dropped the heel of his boot onto the creature's exposed throat.
Takenoko's yell turned into a hoarse gasp, and the scarred man
planted his other foot in the youma's left kidney.
Thraw grinned and beckoned for Kayura to come closer. Behind
him, the smokescreen was beginning to dissipate. The young empress
glanced down at her empty hands, then over at the kusari-gama, which
lay by Thraw's feet. Takenoko was definitely down, his head lolling
from side to side as he lay on the floor. Thraw smirked and beckoned
again.
Kayura threw the red egg.
**********
TO BE CONTINUED...