Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Dreams ❯ Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Jupiter charged up another Sparkling Wide Pressure attack for a renewed assault on Milon, when she saw with dawning horror that it was preparing to swing its four tentacles, twisted together into one thick 'club', down on her. In the middle of her attack sequence, there was little she could do as it dropped to the ground with her underneath.

Just before the attack connected with a deafening 'CRASH!' a green and gray blur shoved her aside with a football tackle, causing her to roll along the ground with said protector. Once they stopped, Serin was on top with a grin on his face, but concern evident in his eyes.

"Miss me, Mako-chan?"

Under normal circumstances, she would have laughed, blushed, or even enjoyed the intimate position they were in. Now, however, she merely spared a quick, "Very much. Are you going to get off now, or are you just getting started?"

Blushing, the warrior clambered off and got to his feet as the Senshi did the same, just in time to see Ryuhi slide into his combat stance with his feet spaced about shoulder-width apart, and his fists clenched at his waist. He growled loudly as his entire body tensed, forming an aura of red chi energy around him. Two minutes passed, during which no one, not even Milon, even twitched, totally enthralled by this sight. At the end of that time, Ryuhi shouted out, "KAIO-KEN!" and jumped toward his opponent.

Though visual reports are non-existent, Serin and the others swear that the only thing they saw was a red blur impacting Milon in several areas before Ryuhi appeared in his original spot, breathing heavily and sweating. Milon, by the same token, was also showing signs of injury, having several fist shaped craters in his skin, along with one of his tentacles being snapped in two. The Fiend eyed his injuries momentarily, then turned with a furious gaze at the martial artist, and lashed out with a fist, intent on making the upstart a red smear on the ground.

Ryuhi, however, easily saw it coming, and hopped away, almost idly, as Milon's fist crashed into the ground. Before he could withdraw it for another attack, several beams of light surrounded him, quickly replaced by a pillar of rock and earth, which nearly crushed him under its intense weight and pressure.

Quickly becoming fed up with the antics of his enemies, Milon tensed his appendages into spear-like projectiles, and began utilizing them as such, lashing out with almost unimaginable speed. Serin, Jupiter, and Ryuhi were only barely able to avoid injury from the attacks.

Sephiroth wasn't so lucky, as the Earth Fiend buried the tip of his tentacle into the warrior's thigh. With little more than a grunt of pain, Sephiroth neatly chopped off the intruding appendage. Staggering back, he cast Quake 3 again, which weakened Milon even further. Unfortunately, all could see that he still had plenty of fight left in him…

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Serin got ready for an attempt to bury his sword into the creature's face and end this whole battle, but the Fiend's remaining tentacles frustratingly kept him back. Glancing over at the others, he noted with some surprise that Ryuhi was gesturing him over for a private discussion. Looking back up at Milon briefly, he stepped back as Jupiter fired another Sparkling Wide Pressure at the creature, while Sephiroth took the brief opportunity to heal himself.

Coming up beside the martial artist, Serin stated without preamble, "What is it?"

Ryuhi replied in a near deadpan voice, "I need the three of you to keep him off me for a moment."

Serin was confused, and said as much. "Like we haven't been doing that already. Besides, you seem to have handled the avoidance factor real well."

His comrade shook his head. "No, this will be tougher. I'm going to charge up for one of my secret techniques, and I won't be able to dodge any of his attacks in the meantime."

Serin pursed his lips in thought and turned back just in time to see their opponent use his tentacles to sweep Sephiroth straight into a wall. Though the former general left a sizable dent in the barrier, he still managed to make it to his feet, though his movements suggested great pain. Sailor Jupiter hobbled over to his side, and the way she held her side, Serin knew that her ribs were at least cracked, if not broken altogether. That settled the matter for him.

Turning back to Ryuhi, he demanded, "You sure this attack of yours is going to work? That it will finish him off?"

Ryuhi simply nodded.

Serin returned the gesture, and said, "You got it. Just hurry it up, okay? We can't hold out forever." And with that, he turned and leapt at his enemy in a mid-air charge.

Ryuhi planted his feet about shoulder-width apart, and simultaneously attempted to relax and tense his muscles as he felt the earth's chi flow into him. As his body absorbed more of it's power, he raised his hands to the heavens, and saw little blue dots converging on his palms.

In the meantime, Serin's initial charge had been met with a casual brush-off with Milon's hand. Fortunately, he only met the edge of the attack, and quickly regained his balance enough to slice open the Earth Fiend's palm.

Milon, of course, took great exception to this, and buried his hands into the dirt, only to have them come under the swordsman's feet…except that they were much bigger - big enough to crush him if they closed, which was exactly what they were doing now.

Ryuhi, at this point, lowered his hands, keeping one at about eye level as he slowly clenched it into a fist. As he did so, it seemed to erupt into blue 'chi flames'. Straining to focus, the flames abruptly disappeared, and a basketball-sized sphere of chi took its place. Turning his gaze to the Earth Fiend, who was just now bringing his hands up out of the earth after failing to kill Serin, he grinned wickedly.

"SERIN, JUPITER SEPHIROTH! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Ryuhi shouted, hoping they'd know the meaning of the old 20th century saying. Without even sparing them a second glance, he lobbed the sphere at Milon with a roar, overbalancing a bit on his follow-through, and dropping to the ground.

The attack connected with the Earth Fiend's body directly, exploding into a maelstrom of chi that roared around the four fighters. Sometimes they thought they would never live through the 'explosion'…and other times they were almost afraid to.

When the energy backlash had dissipated, and they dared to look, their enemy was nowhere to be seen.