Onward and upward....

The only thing left to do was be nice and obvious, just like
Badamon wanted. With a sneer of distaste, Nise Suiko thrust his arm
up into the sky. As he clenched his fist, red lightning crackled through
the sky and the water under his feet swirled and twisted around itself
until he was standing on a dry seabed with churning walls of ocean
spinning about him in a towering vortex. Crouched behind an exposed piece
of coral, Vepres looked at him in confusion.

"Did you turn into Moses when I wasn't looking?"

"That's right," he growled, almost to himself. "Feel it, Shin.
Feel it right to the core of your pathetic little bones. I want you to
feel what I'm doing to your precious ocean, and I want you to know that
I'm the one doing it. I want you to come, Suiko no Shin! I want you here,
and I want you to bring every friend you've got!"

He needs a new hobby.

"I was able to get in touch with Haruka," Ami admitted as she
sat next to Usagi on the bed and lay back with a groan. "She was on her
way out the door, and she told me to remind you that this sort of thing
isn't really her area of expertise, but she'll talk to Michiru and see if
there's some way they can track down Sailor Pluto for us. If the Samurai
Troopers are anything worth knowing about, Setsuna should be able to tell
us something about them."

Whether she WILL say anything, though, remains to be seen...

Even at six in the morning, Nango Beach was crowded. Thousands of
people, locals and tourists alike, had congregated to this stretch of
sand near Chigasaki to take part in the Day Break Festival, and maybe
just enjoy a nice day at the beach while they were at it. Multi-coloured
balls bobbed and floated serenely through the air, deftly avoiding the
spinning Frisbees and volleyballs they shared their space with. Surfboards
dotted the sand like the neon teeth of a massive shark: with the coming
of the typhoon season, the local surfers were looking forward to the first
really good waves of the season. The sun had already made its presence
very well known, and swarms of younger children had taken to the water
to escape the baking heat. A number of priests waded in the shallows,
smiling and nodding amicably to the kids as they splashed about where the
large floating shrines filled with charms and talismans waited to be
purified in the seas for the year. Nearly sixty men dressed in black and
white ceremonial garb and wearing bright yellow headbands stood ready to
push the shrines out into the surf when the time came.

Very nice imagery!

Hence, it had fallen to Shin to serve as a forward scout of sorts.
As the Yoroi Senshi of Suiko, his armour's magic gave him a supernatural
affinity for the water. If his evil twin wanted to try anything, then
Shin would be waiting nearby to counter it and show Nise Suiko exactly
who was the *real* master of the seas. Of course, as they had reasoned,
if they were lucky nothing would happen at all and they would have to
settle for a day of hanging out on the beach, playing in the water and
working on their tans. Considering they were officially supposed to be on
vacation anyway, it had seemed like a risk worth taking.

Ah, the perils of being a superhero...

"Hey, Shin! How's tricks?" Safely ensconced in inflatable rubber,
Shuu Rei Fuan bobbed over to his friend with an enthusiastic grin. The
stocky Chinese boy was wearing banana yellow trunks and standard orange
water wings, with what appeared to be an inflatable dragon around his
waist. A snorkel and a pair of goggles rested on top of his shaggy head,
glinting slightly in the light.

That is one of the dorkiest mental images EVAR. XD

"Really? Cool!" With a bit of effort and a lot of squeaking noises
from his accessories, Shuu struggled onto the board behind Shin. "Man,
this is so awesome! I've never been on a surfboard before!"

*dryly* Couldn't imagine why.

Ami hoped they would be able to handle things without needing to
call in Sailor Moon. Usagi was as reliable as any friend could be, but
the more she used her powers lately, the weaker she seemed to become.

I won't bother repeating my objections to this plot point. Just note that I
have already objected to this at length. :)

"...and some shaved ice, please," a boy's voice said, rising up
from one of the shops nearby. As he spoke, her visor flashed and blinked
in rhythm with his words. Apparently, it found him interesting enough
that the only words it could use to describe him were in a language that
had not been spoken in over six thousand years.

[Visor] (in Lunarian) "He looks just like Lady Jupiter's old sempai!"

There was something in his eyes that made Ami suddenly feel the
need for a very long, very cold drink of water. It was almost as if his
stare was actually burning her: she could feel her temperature rising as
a blush began to form on her cheeks. He was hot. Ami had heard that word
used by some of the other girls lots of times to describe boys, but it was
the only one that came to mind when she looked at this one. He wore the
word 'hot' like it was a nametag. Somehow, he gave off the impression that
if he went into the ocean he would generate steam.

DOWN, GIRL! DOWN! No flaking on recon!

Steam. Ami was willing to allow that steamy words were also well
applied under these circumstances. The way that he was looking at her
could most definitely be considered 'steamy'. So: steamy and hot. Those
were good words. She wondered how long it would take her to remember some
other ones. Maybe it would help if he blinked, or looked away, or
something.

Maybe it would help if he couldn't see right up her skirt...

She was not good under these kinds of pressure: it was not fair
that Minako or Makoto or... well... anybody but her wasn't here to deal
with this instead. He looked like the type of person who might try to
whisk a girl off on some whirlwind romance that ended with passionate
kisses in front of a roaring fireplace, and Ami had no idea how to let
him know that she was very busy saving the world and had no time for that
at the moment. Also, that he would need to call her back after she was
done saving things and could clear her schedule.

Down girl. Fire and ice do NOT mix...

Ami Mizuno had practiced the art of being invisible to the opposite sex
specifically to avoid things like this. How could she possibly face the
other Sailor Senshi if she let herself get all flustered and tongue-tied
over some random guy?

Yeah. I mean, it's not like he's Urawa-kun, or Mercurius, or Tsukino Shingo,
or...

"Hi," the boy said calmly, as he lifted a paper cup filled with
shaved ice. "My name's Ryo Sanada. Want some ice? You look a little hot."

Aaaaa! Lame pickup line alert!

"All right, off you get,"

[Ami] "Already did, four paragraphs ago."

"So, want some?" Ryo asked, offering the small cup of shaved ice.
"I just figured it gets pretty hot up here with the sun out and no shade."
Getting no response, he tried another approach. "Crowd control sure sucks,
huh? I'll bet your team told you to stay out of trouble, too."

Damn, he's sharp. XD

"Yeah, you know: for when something inevitably goes wrong." Ryo
shrugged. "Usually we stick Shuu or Touma with this job, but Touma's not
here and Shuu pulled rank on me on account of we're staying at his house."
With a snort, the dark-haired teen rolled his eyes and took a seat on top
of a nearby air conditioning unit. "Man, I hate having to cool my heels
like this! The next time someone sticks me on crowd control, they are
getting punched. That's it: no arguments, no bargaining. Just punching."

Heh.

"I figured," Ryo said, completely ignorant of Ami's wild and
silent protests. "So if we're both stuck in the back row by ourselves, do
you want to keep an eye on things together? At least that way, we won't
have to be hot, sticky, bored AND lonely."

No, just hot and sticky. Heavy on the sticky.

*snip Nise Suiko/Shin fight* Nicely written fight scene. :)

"Foolish sack of meat! My name is Vepres, and I shall be-"

"I said I was trying to save time, here!"

*SNRK*

"Good work," Nise Suiko said appraisingly, as he walked out from
behind the giant outcropping and looked down at the unconscious form of
Shuu Rei Fuan. "Toss him in for plant food and let's get this party
started."

Yikes...

Ryo Sanada did not have a nose for trouble. He had an entire body
for it.

Good line!

Dark energy and evil intentions were like signal flares for him, and he
was getting a very familiar tingle between his eyes that told him that
whatever they had been waiting for, it was about to happen.

Unfolding his legs, the dark-haired youth rose to his feet and
walked over to where Sailor Mercury had been very stoically examining the
horizon for the past few minutes. He had no idea why, but for some reason
she had been refusing to even look at him since she had finished the snow
cone. He had caught her blushing a little, and wisely decided to stay out
of her way. In hindsight, he guessed he could have been more discreet in
getting in touch with her. Poor girl was obviously embarrassed that he had
caught her with her guard down, so now she was trying to be extra
diligent to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Damn! He had wanted to
make a good impression, too. He'd have to make a point to be extra
charming from now on, or she might decide he was some kind of jerk.

Oh damn...poor Ami'll never knew what hit her... XD

Rising above the waves was a thick carpet of slimy green
tentacles, writhing and weaving amongst each other like a moving carpet of
snakes as they surged inland. The remains of crumbled surfboards and
weakly flailing limbs stood mute testament to the people who had already
realised the danger to late. People were panicking, pushing each other
under and trampling over their fellow swimmers as they tried to get to
shore. Screams filled the air, and the roar of the surf was mingled with
a sickening series of squelches and groans as the snakelike weeds lashed
out to snare as many people as they could, dragging their victims back
towards the advancing vegetation.

Gah. x.x

Ryo did a quick count of how much seaweed was advancing towards
him. If every one of those slimy, slippery things was going to turn into
a full-grown monster...

"Man," he groaned, "we are in serious trouble."

That about sums it up, yeah.

"Ah, crap," she muttered, and glanced over at the boy as he
wrapped his tiny arms around her leg and buried his face in the back of
her knee. Maybe if she kicked really hard she could get him over that
wall before the monsters attacked? Sure, she thought to herself, and
maybe if I really try I'll be able to grow wings and fly away before they
get me, too. Like that would ever happen.

Well, y'never know...

Quickly sweeping the child into her arms, Usagi dove between two of the
creatures and bolted down the street as fast as her coltish legs could
carry her. The child started wailing at the top and Usagi resisted the

Some words missing after 'at the top' maybe?

urge to join him. After all, she was supposed to be a superhero, of sorts,
when she was able to do it, and if there was one thing that Sailor Moon
was known for, it was keeping a cool head in all situations.

*flatly disbelieving stare*

Well, okay, maybe that was not what she was BEST known for, but
Usagi had been working really hard on it lately.

That's better.

The second time he touched down on a broken piece of surfboard
that was jutting from the mass, leaping off again as it bucked and shot
upwards in a rush of grasping vines. Whoever had been making these things
so aggressive, Ryo decided he needed to have a nice long talk with them.
And he was going to use all of his sharp, pointy words.

Heh.

"You have serious reality issues," a female voice interrupted,
and Vepres turned to glance over his shoulder at the speaker. There,
draped elegantly across the top of the massive boulder nearby, lay a
blonde girl in a white leotard with a small red bow on her chest. Her
twin pigtails were topped by a pair of large garnets that gleamed in the
light, and she winked at the youma before wiggling her fingers at him in
an exaggerated wave.

"Hi!" the girl chirped. "I'm Sailor Moon. Warrior of justice and
defender of the Earth - not to mention love, purity, and all things just
plain awesome. Ring a bell?"

NICE entrance! XD

"Sailor... Moon, you said?" The youma slowly turned a slightly
paler shade of green. Sailor Moon simply grinned and nodded slowly in
response to his question. Yes, she told him with her eyes, THAT Sailor
Moon. The one you are thinking of right this second. You know the one.

Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheh.

Oh, dear. Vepres looked back at where the Burning Mandala had
struck, and saw a humanoid form emerging from the billowing clouds of
embers. The boy was clad from head to toe in sleek crimson armour, and
the blades on his helmet glowed with the heat of the fire he had absorbed.
There was an aura of sizzling heat emanating from his body so strong that
Vepres could feel himself drying out even from several feet away. The
paired katana in the armoured warrior's hands were alight with a wavering
flame that reflected off every deadly curve of his yoroi.

Rekka no Ryo, the warrior of fire, was in his full armour at last.

DAMNED awesome. :)

The greatest surprise for the Senshi was that nothing seemed to
happen when he struck. The tip of the blade pierced an inch into the
youma's chest, and Ryo hung in the air like a puppet on invisible strings.
There was an almost oppressive silence, as if everything in the universe
had chosen that exact moment to hold its breath and flinch away in
expectation. Vepres stared up at Ryo, who smiled and gently twisted the
blade to the right.

Uh-oh...

"Guys," Sailor Mars said warningly, "I think we should be a lot
further away from this..."

.....yah, good call.

Rei slowly pulled herself out of the small trench she had dug on
impact and threw her hair back over her shoulder with a flick of her
wrist. She had felt better, but at least she was still alive. She had
never guessed that that boy's attack would be so powerful! It was like he
had magnified all of the power she had hit him with and then turned it
loose in a single strike. One thing was for sure: the Samurai Troopers
definitely had power to spare.

Heh.

"Ryo must have hurled us clear right before the attack went off,"
Ami suggested with a wince as she rubbed her back and hobbled back down
the beach to join her friends. "It's an amazing use of thermodynamics,
actually... does anybody have any Aspirin? I think I shall need a very
large amount of Aspirin."

Heh.

"Uh, hey," Ryo said, chuckling nervously. "Are you girls okay? I
mean, I didn't mean to... shove... you like that. It's just kind of hard
to control myself when I'm really worked up about things." He winced and
quickly glanced at each of the three Senshi. "You're not mad or anything,
right?"

If they are, RUN. But, they're probably not, after all that.

"Leave it to Ryo to save us and get us in trouble at the same
time," Shin muttered to the third boy.

Heh.

"Aw, man, and they're kind of cute, too!" the boy in orange
whispered back.

I like his attitude. Come for the battle, stay for the orgy!

"Now they'll never want to talk to us again, just because
our fearless leader is a total dork!"

Ah, the perils of being a yoroi senshi.

"Hello!" Sailor Moon said cheerfully, extending her fingers in a
'V' shape and beaming widely. "I'm Sailor Moon, and this is Sailor Mars,
and Sailor Mercury is over there in the back. We're the Sailor Senshi!
Or at least, we're all the ones who are here. There's more of us, just
not around right now. Did that make sense? I don't do this very often,
so I'm not really sure how it goes. What happens next?"

Um...the guys introduces themselves?

"Attacking large groups of people," Ami mused, "and stealing their
energy at random. I think we may have seen this tactic once or twice
before.

Once, or twice, or...a few dozen times...

"And why is Nise Suiko working for them?" Shin asked, scowling
furiously. "How many times is he going to rise from the dead and try
to come after me?"

As many times as it takes for him to get it right!

"He said 'Our master will still reign supreme over all the dark
realms, now that you have removed his only opposition'." Rei said grimly
as she knelt and drew a ward in the sand with her finger. "Whoever this
guy is, he must have been someone we missed the last time. Someone who
was just waiting for Beryl to be out of the way so he could take over,
himself. And we paved the way for him."

Ooops.

"If Nise Suiko is involved, then you can count us in, too," Shin
said, stepping forward and putting his hands on his hips. "I'll be blowed
if I let that blackguard run around spoiling MY good name."

Nicely put!

Touma, Seiji, Ryo thought to himself as he watched the sun setting
over the rippling sea, wherever you guys are, be careful. I have a bad
feeling that you're in a lot more trouble than any of us realise.

But they'll have good company, if I'm not mistaken.


Good chapter...will get to the next one by the end of the month. :)

The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com



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