Hi again!
A few notes before we get down to it. Talpa has been renamed Arago, to
better fit with YST continuity, and Sh'ten/Shutendoji was the Warlord Anubis
in RW continuity. Naaza was named Sekhmet in RW. Also, I love getting
e-mail, so PLEASE send me any C&C you have on this, okay? (just no flames,
please) ^_^
Enjoy!
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: ronin-summer3.txt
LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of the characters here belong to me. Sailor
Moon belongs to DIC, and Graz Entertainment is the owner of the
Yoroiden in North America. Don't sue me : I'm a student, and
too broke to be worth it.
SAILOR MOON / YOROIDEN SAMURAI TROOPERS X-OVER
RONIN SUMMER
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@hotmail.com)
PART 3 : ROSES AND THORNS
Ami Mizuno, Princess of Mercury, stood waiting by the balcony.
The wind rose up from below to spiral around the tower, ruffling
curtains and hair alike. She sighed as she gazed out over the
glittering gem that was the Moon Kingdom. Although she much preferred
her own court of Mercury, Queen Serenity did have a beautiful kingdom.
Finally, she heard the slight clue that she had been waiting
for : the soft scraping of a boot against marble. Taking a deep breath,
she turned to face her love. He was as dashing as ever, dressed in the
traditional armour of Mamoru Chiba's second in command. His shoulder
length black hair was constrained in a ponytail, and he looked at her
with glimmering blue eyes.
"Oh, KEN!" Ami cried, and leapt into his arms, kissing him
fiercely.
"My name isn't Ken," he replied calmly, "it's Ryo."
"RYO?" Ami blinked, and remembered. Sailor Senshi, battles
against the Dark Kingdom, and most recently, the strange attack from a
youma named Cirkuit, when she and a Yoroiden Samurai named Ryo Sanada
had been overwhelmed...
She stepped back, and looked around objectively. "What's going
on here? This is the Moon Kingdom... isn't it?"
Ryo shrugged. "Listen, lady, I don't know how you managed to
get in my dreams, but if we're going to be making out, you can at
least get my name right."
"This is my dream! I have it every night!"
"Well, I don't see how this can be your dream. It's MY dream,
and I happen to dream it every night, too! So I have as much a right
to be here as you do." Ken - Ryo tapped his foot impatiently.
"This IS just a dream, no matter whose it is." Ami looked
around for a weak point in the illusion, and found it. A small stuffed
tiger was propped in the corner of the palace room, and Ami knew for
a fact she had won that tiger at the carnival last summer.
"MERCURY BUBBLES... SPLASH!"
The palace and the surroundings rippled and blurred in the
fog created by her attack, and Ryo reappeared wearing blue jeans and
a red sweater. Ami looked down and reassured herself that she was
wearing her normal clothes again, too.
"Okay," Ryo admitted, "THAT was strange. Not as strange as
when I was in the volcano, but still strange. What's going on here?"
"We must be asleep, Ryo. We're communicating on the Astral
Plane."
Ryo shrugged. "Big deal. The question is, what happened to us?
The last thing I remember is fighting that youja..."
"You mean the youma."
Ryo continued as if he hadn't heard her. "...and then I'm
wearing a suit, and you're kissing me and calling me Ken. What's up?"
"I wish I knew..."
**********
The Dark One sat back on his throne of rock and watched as the
giant crystal slowly spun in mid-air. Trapped within its murky depths
were the first of his trophies : Rekka no Ryo, Ronin of the Wildfire,
and Sailor Mercury. They hung motionless, wrapped in each other's arms.
He reached out and gently let his claws stroke the crystal, filling
the cave with a soft ringing sound.
All in all, it was a good day. There was just one thing needed
to make it better...
The seer had told him of another Senshi reaching their time
of crisis. An odd choice, he reflected, but he for one was more than
happy to get THIS particular troublemaker out of the way as quickly as
possible.
"Go." he said to the two shadowy forms bowing before him.
"Destroy Tuxedo Kamen."
**********
"WOW! Two dates in a week, and nothing's attacked us yet!"
Usagi Tsukino smiled over at her boyfriend. "We're going for a record,
Mami-chan!"
Mamoru Chiba smiled at the petite blond girl who sat across
from him. "You shouldn't talk like that, Usagi." he smiled, and took
her hand. "You might jinx us." Usagi laughed, and he joined in.
So did the two boys who had walked up to their table. Both
wore white shirts and black slacks, with aprons and pads of paper.
One was a bit heavyset, and looked Chinese. "Nihao!" he said
cheerily, and drew a pen out of his apron. "Welcome to my family's
restaurant! I am Shuu Rei Fuan, and I will be your waiter this
evening! Please feel free to call on me if you need any assistance!"
The other waiter was taller, with a shock of blue hair and
elfin features. "I," he said calmly, "am Touma Hashiba. I will also
be your waiter this evening. If you need any REAL help, be sure to
call on me!"
"Hey, Touma! What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to make sure these two have a nice meal, Shuu!"
"I can handle this meal just fine by myself!"
"They want you to carry it, not EAT it!"
Mamoru looked at Usagi and shrugged. Obviously, these two had
been working in the hot and stuffy Chinese restaurant all day, and it
was probably affecting their nerves.
**********
The two youma were more liquid than solid as they oozed
through the darkened shadows of Tokyo's alleys. Slowly, they came to
a stop by the plate glass window of a Chinese restaurant. With their
latent mental powers, they scanned the minds of its occupants, seeking
forms with the strength to destroy one of Tuxedo Kamen's power and
reputation. The memories of the blond girl were inticing, but the two
waiters had far more... delicious possibilities lurking in their
subconscious...
Slowly, the shapeshifters began to grow and solidify, black
goo reforming itself into armour plating, and gleaming blades...
**********
Touma was the first to notice the murmers running rampant
through the restaurant. "Movie filming... publicity stunt..."
Curious, he turned and looked out the window. Nearly swallowing
his gum, he dropped the cart of chow mein he was pushing and ran back
to the kitchen, where Shuu was waiting for the egg rolls to be
finished.
"Shuu, old buddy? We have trouble."
Shuu looked up from the egg roll he had been... checking.
"Trouble?" he mumbled through a mouthful of food, "Wha' trouble?"
Touma looked sternly at his partner. "Shutendoji trouble."
Shuu blinked. "How can we have Shutendoji trouble? Shutendoji
is dead."
"Well, I guess he didn't like it much, because he's outside
the restaurant right now!" Touma glared at Shuu. "Well?"
Shuu was growling now as his egg rolls fell to the floor,
forgotten. "Those damn Mashos..." he growled, "coming into MY FAMILY'S
restaurant? I don't THINK so! BUSSO... KONGO!"
"Now we're talking! BUSSO, TENKU!" Touma lifted both arms into
the air, and a blast of blue energy enveloped him, even as glowing
orange flame writhed around the shorter Shuu. Soon, the forms of Touma
Hashiba and Shuu Rei Fuan were engulfed by the mystical yoroi of
Kongo and Tenku, respectively. The symbol for Chi burned brightly
on Touma's forehead, even as the kanji of Justice glowed on Shuu's.
"Yoroiden... TO ARMS!"
**********
Seiji of the Korin had definitely had better days. Ryo Sanada,
his leader, his teammate, and his friend, was... gone. The only sign
they had was his battered yoroi helmet, cracked and smoking like
everything else in the parking lot. Nearby, Shin of the Suiko was
leaning heavily on his trident and trying not to weep. Sailor Venus
and Sailor Mars were standing a slight distance away, mourning their
own fallen comrade, Sailor Mercury.
Shin slowly placed one hand on Seiji's shoulder. "He... he
went out fighting, Seiji. Kaosu would be proud."
Minako Aino hugged Rei tightly. "Ami was a fighter, Rei.
We'll get the creep that did this to her."
Rei Hino let a single tear track down her cheek. "There isn't
even anything to bury..." she whispered.
**********
Shutendoji stared through the glass window, scythe gripped
tightly in his gauntleted hand. With his other hand, he lifted the
bladed weight attached to his scythe by its chain and looked at
the glass appraisingly. This would be too easy.
The weight smashed through the glass, turning finely decorated
craftsmanship into a cloud of flying shards. Glass scrunched under his
armoured boots as he stepped through the window frame and entered the
restaurant. People began to scream and run about in terror, but he
cared not.
"I AM SHUTENDOJI, MASHO OF CRUELTY! I SEEK THE ONE CALLED
TUXEDO KAMEN!"
Mamoru slowly rose from his seat. Usagi grabbed his sleeve,
crying and begging him to stay down. "I have to!" he whispered and
stood to face the black armoured demon with the Ogre mask.
"I am the one called Tuxedo Kamen! Leave these innocent
people alone and face me like a man!"
"Hmmmm... very well." Shutendoji sneered and hefted his
kusari-gama. This one would prove no problem at all.
**********
Usagi Tsukino was not a very brave person. This was a fact
that was rarely disputed by anybody, especially people who knew her.
She was also usually rather clumsy, but tonight Mamoru Chiba was in
danger, and she vaulted over the table like an Olympic gymnast.
Needless to say, most of the rules about Usagi Tsukino were
going out the window for the next little while. Along, apparently,
with most of the restaurant's patrons. Looking from side to side to
make sure she was safely out of sight behind an overturned cart of
chow mein, she raised one hand to the sky.
"MOON... CRYSTAL... POWER!!!"
**********
Tuxedo Kamen looked at his opponent and weighed his options.
Option number one : attack, and drive the demon on the defensive. A
good long look at the Kusari-gama in Shutendoji's hands made that
unlikely. Option number two : try to reason with it. That was hopeless.
He shifted his cane from one hand to the other and reached for his
lapel. Option Three : Run, and fight it somewhere else. Option... ah,
to hell with it.
He hurled the rose at speeds rapidly approaching the sound
barrier. The delicate flower began to glow and crackle with energy
moments before it hit with the force of a small atom bomb. Shutendoji
shrugged it off.
Tuxedo Kamen was in trouble.
**********
Touma skidded to a halt and raised his bow. Reaching into the
golden quiver on his back, he chose an arrow by feel. Nocking it, he
drew the shaft back to his ear. Shutendoji still hadn't sensed the
presence of his yoroi...
"Hold that pose, Koma Toshitada..." All the man in the
evening wear had to do was hold Shutendoji still for...
just...
one...
minute...
"ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" Like the flower before it, the shaft flew
slightly under the speed of sound, glowing with mystical energy. Then
it started to do some REAL travelling. By the time it hit, it unleashed
enough energy to demolish a small mountain.
It didn't even knock Shutendoji's helmet off.
Touma Hashiba was in trouble.
**********
Shuu watched as both Tuxedo Kamen and Touma Hashiba had their
most powerful attacks basically ignored by the wrath of Shutendoji.
There was something going on here... something everybody was
forgetting...
His eyes bugged out. Of course!
"YOU IDIOTS! HIS ARMOR ABSORBS ENERGY! YOU'RE ONLY MAKING HIM
STRONGER!!!"
**********
The four teens who walked towards the temple were a
solemn and somber group. Rei was in the lead, her head hung low. Next
came Seiji with Ryo's battered helm held reverently before him
in both hands. Minako was a few steps behind, with tears streaming down
her face and Ami's tiara clutched to her chest. Shin brought up the
rear guard, dressed still in his armour, but with his helm tucked under
one arm and trident strapped to his back.
Makoto Kino looked up from where she was sitting at the
entrance to the temple with Artemis and Luna. "Hey, guys! What's
going..." her voice trailed off as she stared at Seiji. "Wow... he...
he..."
"Let me guess," Rei said wryly, "he reminds you of your old
sempai?"
"No... he IS my old sempai! SEIJI!" Makoto leapt forward and
trapped the Yoroiden off guard in a crushing embrace. Staggering
backwards with nothing to support him, Seiji fell down with her on top
of him.
"Uh... Makoto! Wh-what a coincidence we should meet here, of
all places!" Seiji laughed nervously and wheezed as the tall girl
continued to cut off his air supply. He was pretty sure he felt his
ribs creak, and wished he had kept his armour on...
Shin leaned over. "Is there something you want to tell us,
Seiji?"
**********
Tuxedo Kamen ducked under the slashing scythe as it tore
through the air towards his head. His hat was knocked clear across the
restaurant, but otherwise he was uninjured. His cane struck the ribs
of this 'Shutendoji' character, and rebounded off of the black
plating. All in all, Mamoru decided, he preferred youma that DIDN'T
wear armour...
Touma somersaulted through the air and brought his bow down
on the Masho's head like an improvised katana. At the last second,
Sh'ten lifted his Kusari-gama and blocked the strike, wrapping his
chain around the golden bow and yanking it out of Touma's hands. While
he was thus distracted, Mamoru dropped onto his hands and kicked
the armoured demon directly behind the left kneecap, with both feet.
Shuu's tetsubo staff whistled through the air and cracked
against Shutendoji's stomach, just as Touma dropped from his overhead
strike and vaulted feet first into the spine of the Oni yoroi. This
strategic combination of strikes dropped the Masho to his knees.
"I am not yet defeated, Tuxedo Kamen!" the youma impersonating
Shutendoji growled as a gobbet of blood oozed out of his mouth.
Touma stepped back and reached for his fallen bow. "Look out!
He's going to use the - "
"QUAKE... WITH... FEAR!" Sh'ten raised his weight high and
heaved it down through the floor, which began to shake violently.
"I don't like the sound of this..." Tuxedo Kamen admitted
hesitantly.
"Trust us, pal," said Shuu, "you won't like the LOOK of it,
either."
Almost as if summoned by his words, hundreds of clawed weights,
attached to hundreds of chains, began to tear out of the ground.
Smashing through tables, walls, and ceiling alike, they formed an
intricate net of metal links, meshing the entire room in a spider's
web of chains. Tuxedo Kamen and the two Yoroi dangled limply in that
web, hanging like flies waiting for the slaughter.
Shuu struggled slightly, straining against the chains wrapped
around his limbs. He had always hated it when Sh'ten did this
move on them. A few feet to the left, and a little closer to the
celing, Mamoru groaned. One of the weights had gone straight through
his shoulder, and he was bleeding far too much for his liking. Touma
was hanging several feet in front of both, and his face was starting
to turn as blue as his armour. With his one free hand, he pulled
desperately at the chain wrapped tight around his throat.
"Koma Toshitada..." he wheezed, staring down at the amoured
figure crouching before him, "please! You have to remember... remember
Kaosu, Kayura... we're... your friends..."
"The Masho of Cruelty HAS no friends, Tenku no Touma. Now it
is time for Tuxedo Kamen to die."
"MOON TIARA... STARDUST!" A glowing disc flashed throughout
the restaurant, smashing and disintegrating the web of chains. Shuu,
Touma, and Mamoru dropped to the floor and watched in amazement as the
glimmering frisbee of energy returned to the hand of its owner.
"Impossible! My attack cannot be so easily defeated!"
"I don't believe it..."
"Hey, I know her! That's..."
"SAILOR MOON!" Tuxedo Kamen grinned in relief.
Usagi winked as she paced the tiara back on her head. "That's
right! And on behalf of the moon, I WILL PUNISH YOU!"
**********
Sailor Moon decided to forget about the usual 'truth, love and
justice' speech. That this youma had DARED to hurt Tuxedo Kamen was
all that mattered.
"SAILOR MOON KICK!" Usagi cried, sailing through the air and
lashing out with her foot to kick Shutendoji in the face. Tuxedo
Kamen crouched and lifted his cape, somehow launching a barrage of
roses at the armoured figure. With a single smooth motion, Touma drew
and loosed three arrows at once.
Shutendoji staggered as the three attacks blasted him. Sailor
Moon, landing on her feet, hopped back out of his reach and glared at
him with her wide blue eyes. "Prepare to get DUSTED!" she swore, and
reached for a long pink sceptre.
"MOON... SCEPTRE... ELIMINATION!"
The youma howled as it felt its grip on the borrowed form
slipping. Too much power! It couldn't... couldn't...
It collapsed into a pile of fine ash, and Sailor Moon smiled
triumphantly, raising her hand in the "V for Victory" pose. Tuxedo
Kamen walked over and put one arm around her shoulders.
"Well done, Sailor Moon! You'll make a fine queen yet!" Usagi
blushed and lowered her eyes in embarassment.
"You really think so? I mean, I guess I WAS pretty good... I
managed to beat him without the other Senshi or anything!"
Shuu walked over with a napkin and a sheepish expression. "Uh,
Sailor Moon? I'm Shuu Rei Fuan, Yoroiden of Kongo and Ronin of
Hardrock. Anyway... uh, my little sister Chun Fa, well she thinks
you're just the greatest, and I was wondering..."
Usagi giggled. "You want an autograph? SUGOI!"
**********
Touma walked out into the street, and Mamoru decided to follow.
Leaving Usagi in the care of her new fan, he hopped out of the broken
window and walked over to where Touma was standing and staring out
at the setting sun.
"What's wrong, Tenku?"
Touma sighed and turned to face the man in the tuxedo. "It's
Shutendoji. I don't understand why he would attack us like that! I
mean, he used to be our greatest enemy, but when he died, he was
sacrificing himself for us! Now he comes back, and it's like none of
that ever happened!"
Tuxedo Kamen nodded sagely. "I've been where he is, Tenku no
Touma. It could be any number of things affecting him, but as long as
you remember the friend he was, a part of the Shutendoji you knew
can never die."
"Ahhh... but YOU will die, Tuxedo Kamen!" Another
figure dropped from the streetlight it had been perched on, swords
extended. "SNAKE... BITE... STRIKE!"
Caught off guard, Tuxedo Kamen had barely enough time to
cry out in pain as the paired blades tore through his vest and jacket,
a putrid pinkish haze trailing in their path. Touma yelled as loudly,
drawing out yet another arrow and launching it at the figure, who
merely laughed maniacally and disappeared.
"What's going on? What happened?" Shuu ran out into the
street, Usagi only a few steps behind him. She screamed in terror and
clutched the fallen form of Mamoru Chiba to her chest, tears flowing
down her cheeks.
"There was another Masho waiting for us!" Touma still glanced
up and down the street, as if expecting it to reappear and strike
again. "It was... Naaza."
Shuu turned and looked at the stricken man. "Oh Kami, no." he
whispered. "Not... the Strike?"
Touma nodded. "He didn't even try to dodge it. Must be even
tougher than he looks, not that it matters."
Usagi looked up at that. "Please..." she whimpered, "you have
to tell me... will Mami-chan be all right?"
Shuu sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you, Sailor Moon. Naaza
is... the Masho of Poison. It's a miracle that Tuxedo Kamen isn't dead
already."
Usagi shook her head. "We can get him to Rei's temple! It's
not far from here... she can heal his wounds, take care of him..."
Touma looked down at her. "Naara's Snake Bite Strike is almost
always lethal. Even if we get him there... I doubt he would survive
the night."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
To Be Continued...