Japanese Superheroes (Musashi, crematedstar)

[SuperSaiyanMusashi]

Bright yellow sunlight bathed the entire city of Tokyo that sunny Summer Saturday afternoon. In the outer sections of the Japanese metropolis, a spacious green park unfolded, the occasional Sakura could be seen, all of them stood tall and were bearing pretty pink petals. A few people were playing various casual sports in the vast grassy field, just passing sports balls and frisbees among each other while discussing work, school, media, and life.

Under the shade of one of the cherry trees, a strange looking man with long, spiky blue hair tied in a tail looked around to make sure he had enough space around him to avoid bumping into anyone. He wore a white karate gi along with red and gold wristbands. He had 2 swords affixed to him, still in their sheaths: one wide one his back, and a thinner, curved katana on his belt.\

The young swordsman reached his 2 hands up high, then, keeping his back and knees straight, reached for the ground and held the stretch for several seconds. He then stretched one leg at a time, followed by a series of arm stretches. Finally, he leaned against the mighty tree, flexed his calf upwards and grabbed his own ankle so he could loosen up his quads. Checking once again to make sure he had enough room, he took his 2 swords out, followed by some soft, padded wrappings that he removed from his belt pouch, despite them looking too large to fit inside such a tiny bag. He applied the peace-bondings to both swords, then proceeded to perform a series of air-slashes and combinations, culminating in a move where he jumped once, did an air jump to flip over once, and land on his feet while double-striking an imaginary target.

Finished with his workout, Musashi sheathed the 2 swords before looking at and tapping his wristband. Feeling its reaction, he lamented, "There's an Oni in this city; could be nasty in a place with this many people." He started to leave then suddenly stopped and grabbed his noisy stomach. "Well, can't hunt Oni on an empty stomach!" he determined. He walked over to an unoccupied picnic table that sat near several others that people were sitting at. The warrior proceeded to remove a bento box from his pouch along with a bottle of Ramune.

 

[crematedstar]

---

While that was happening, a group of young women was sitting by the picnic table the blue-haired was near. They all seemed to be talking about some strange attacks by the oni. Their pig-tailed friend who usually sat next to them was a little way by a similarly styled young girl and a black-haired male. The young girl and male were tossing a frisbee, while the pig-tailed nursed a rash on her forehead from failing to catch several tosses.

"Oi! Serena!" a black-haired woman called out to the blonde and gestured for her to come over. Violet eyes met blues before the blonde walked over. "You were the first to be attacked by it, right?"

The blonde nodded. "Yesterday, I could not use my brooch," she said, softly. "Rei, have you been getting visions?"

Rei shook her head. "Not really, if any, the fires couldn't pinpoint the next attack. I even called Michelle to see if her mirror picked up anything. None, whatsoever," she whispered.

"That's not good, but we tend to get ourselves near the attacks in the past, right?" another blonde spoke up. Her hair was kept long with a red bow in her hair.

Rei nodded.

Serena sat back down at her place at the picnic table. "What should we do?" she asked.

"If you can't turn into Eternal Sailor Moon, we're screwed," a brunette spoke up. Her green eyes narrowed.

"There's a very good likelihood that we'll fail to transform as well," a blue-haired woman pocketed her glasses.

"Or worse, de-transform when we need our powers the most," Rei agreed.

"Hm, well I got Darien and Rini, perhaps it's best we double up?" Serena suggested. She looks at the blue-haired woman. "Ami, you'll be paired with Lita." She looks at the brunette with green eyes. "Mina, you'll be paired with Rei." She said to the other blonde and looked over at Rei.

"Oh boy, y'know things are serious when Serena actually gets serious," Lita sighed. The others agreed.

"Yeah, but I don't want you all to get hurt," Serena admitted with a smile. It looked sad, and her eyes teared up from the shear exhaustion of the previous years as Sailor Senshi.

---

(( Just an establishing post for the Inner Senshi. I was thinking the oni may attack while people are viewing the sakura/cherry trees in the next few. ))

 

[SuperSaiyanMusashi]

Musashi opened his bento box, wherein a generous serving of teriyaki-grilled steak, broccoli, carrots, California rolls and rice awaited his consumption. Chopsticks in hand he took to the hearty meal one piece at a time, excited to eat it all but taking time to savor and chew, as well as getting sips of his drink in regularly. Before finishing, he looked around, seeing many people in the bustling park engaged in all manner of activities. Looking up momentarily, he noticed a group comprised almost entirely of beautiful women, save for 1 man a younger girl playing with their frisbee. Though momentarily distracted, he re-focused and returned to his amazing lunch. He ate some more, then slowed for a moment, listening intently. He thought he heard the word "Oni" spoken, but since he couldn't verify and didn't want to awkwardly interrupt them, he shrugged and continued with lunch. Once it was emptied, he closed up the bento box and placed it in a sealed hard container which he then placed inside his belt pouch, which it easily fit into despite how tiny the pouch looked. He stood and tapped on his armlet again, feeling it tug and squeeze. "You won't get away from me, Oni." he promised.

Near the Sakura orchard, one of the mighty trees slowly adjusted its upper limbs, though seeing it move far more than a plant should be capable of would have been very difficult to see under the canopy of pretty pink flowers. Dozens of pastel petals shifted their facing direction to a downward angle. The tree then launched the flower petals like little spikes in the direction of several admiring citizens, prompting many painful shouts and squeaks as the unsuspecting viewers were suddenly stung. Then, the same bad tree formed a fist with the little limbs on its main branch and punched a stunned civilian, launching them several yards. Viewers started hastily running away from the orchard, screaming and panicking.

Musashi, noticing the commotion, cursed, "Dam, it's already started!" He hopped out of his spot at the picnic table bench, quickly ripped the paddings off his swords, returned them to their sheaths, then ran as fast as he could towards the source of the uproars, nimbly avoiding the puzzled people running in the opposite direction. Once he was nearby, the solid sakura threw another punch, this one aimed at the approaching samurai. He met the strike with a deflecting fist, showing his immense strength. The Oni-possessed tree then clocked him on the opposite side with another branch. Musashi grunted, "Ughf!" as he was knocked a few feet sideways. He slowly stood back up, fighting the pain in his shoulder and rib cage. Finally, he saw a rain of flower petal needles flying at him. With the help of some adrenaline, he quickly whipped out his 2 swords and crossed them over his face to form a shield against the spiky shower.

Across town, one strange man stood in the line outside Meiji-Jingu stadium among many others. He stood out in a strange way; while folks around him were lightly dressed due to the summer heat, and sporting outfits printed with "Tokyo Yakult Swallows" imagery with the occasional "Yomiuri Giants" shirt mixed in, this stranger wore a hooded overcoat covering his arms and legs entirely and cast a shadow over his face. Still, since he had a ticket, the security officials permitted him to enter.

((Sounds great to me!))

 

[crematedstar]

---

"We'll do what Serena suggests," Mina said as she looked at the rest of the Inner Senshi and at Serena. The other girls nodded.

Rei stared off in the distance, as the other girls continued to talk about precautionary measures for the new enemies. She felt something was off, and it was near the trees. Her eyes narrowed, as she thought she heard the nearby man speak something about an "oni".

"Rei?" Ami spoke up, the other girls dropped the discussion to look at Rei.

"Something is about to happen," the raven-haired woman explained. She shook her head. "I don't know what, but something... big."

"I could sca--" Ami started, as Rei's eyes widened. She heard screams and shouts as passers-by started running from the trees. The rest of the girls followed suit, following where the people were running from.

"Dad! Did that tree just grow arms?!" Rini patted Darien's arm. Darien looked down at Rini and nodded. They heard Rei shout towards a man running towards the animated cherry blossom tree, and the unmistakable sound of palms slapping the picnic table. "Who's that?"

"I don't know, but he's crazy to think he can go up against that thing on his own!" Darien said. He looked over at the girls. "It's time!"

Mina looked over at Darien. "Right! Ladies! With me!" She started running towards the nearby restroom building. Ami, Lita, Rei, Rini, and Serena followed. Darien behind a coniferous to transform. They hoped whoever was attacking the tree would be able to hold for a while longer.

Once behind the building, it was time to transform. "Moon Eternal Power, make up!" While Serena failed to transform, Rini was able to.
"Mercury Crystal Power!" Ami called, as a blue aura covered her.
"Venus Crystal Power!" Mina called, as a yellow aura covered her.
"Jupiter Crystal Power!" Lita called, as a green aura covered her.
"Mars Crystal Power!" Rei called, as a red aura covered her.
"MAKE UP!" The girls shouted as the light enveloped them.
Darien took out a rose and uttered the words of his own transformation to become Earth's soldier, Tuxedo Mask.

--- ---

'The fight over there started but...the real one will show their face real soon!' A young woman thought as she stared at the stadium with a determined face. She, too, held a ticket and was ushered in as soon as she showed it to the guard standing at the entrance. 'Reveal yourself soon!'

---

 

[SuperSaiyanMusashi]

Once he finished shielding himself from the wave of sharp petals, Musashi looked up and noticed a replacement set was starting to grow. Though ailing from the bruise on his side, he still ran for the possessed tree jumped over one of it's strikes, then, as another wooden fist came at him mid-air, he performed an air-jump to avoid it. On his descent, he led with his heavy sword Lumina and sliced hard at the trunk, sinking the enchanted steel about an inch into the hardwood. Upon landing, he pulled the sword out and wound up for another chop. He hated damaging trees, knowing what an important role they played in nature, but his hope was that since this one was occupied by Oni, maybe it could be saved. He started into another swing at the damaged spot by pushing off from his back heel, but then a set of tree roots grabbed his ankles, causing his swing to miss.

"Whoa!" the fencer gasped as his rhythm was interrupted. He looked down, noticing that the treant had grabbed him from under the grass. He started to chop at the roots to free his snared leg, not realizing that it was readying another punch and another rain of petal-needles. Then, he thought he heard some voices nearby. He started thinking, "Backup would really help right now..but is there anyone here powerful enough to fight monsters like these Oni-possesed trees? Or whoever out there is carrying the boss Oni?"

-**-

The overdressed figure calmly walked past the many pre-game festivities. He made sure not to bump into anyone if he could help it, and anytime he nearly walked into another patron, he would quietly apologize and walk away. Despite his disinterest, other attendees excitedly participated in quick pitching lessons, museum-style exhibits, and 2 retired players signing autographs.

 

[crematedstar]

Once transformed, the Inner Senshi waited for an opportune moment to strike. They were strong, but they were still just a group of people dressed in spandex and a tuxedo.

"Don't use your fire just yet, Mars! They're trees!" a blonde called.

"Right! Mask, I'm going to need back up!" Rei called to a tuxedo-clad figure. Tuxedo Mask nodded and took out a few roses.

Rei focused her potency, chanting the words for 'Akuro Taisan'. She had already an ofudo or talisman out. Using her cosmic energies, she enchanted and multiplied the blessed paper between her fingers. She ended the chant on a seal, she could feel the blessed fire's heat against her skin. She took a starting dash and jumped, raining talismans from above. "Akuro... TAISAN!" she called out, as the talismans rained onto some of the treants' trunks. A blessed flame materialized, but it only burned evil spirits within the trees.

"Rose!" Tuxedo Mask's roses pierced into a few of the talismans before lodging into another few of the monstrous tree trunks.

Serena who used her disguise pen instead went as a ninja. "Over here! Hurry!" she called, gesturing towards the lone fighter.



A sigh escaped the young woman's lips. She could care less about the game. It was something her friend would be into, but she was likely busy. The young woman walked through the corridors of the stadium, checking out the attractions, wondering when there could possibly be trouble. She walked past an overdressed figure.

 

[SuperSaiyanMusashi]

Seeing the big brach-fist coming his way, Musashi raised his hands and timed a hard palm-heel push at the time of impact, shouting, "Hya!" when the 2 fierce forces collided. While his push softened the blow, he still took a harsh punch to the head, clouding his vision momentarily. He then noticed that several figures had arrived on the scene: several women in attractive, tight-fitting mini-dresses and one sharp-dressed gentleman wielding roses like they were shurikens.

Musashi watched as one apparent superheroine rained a series of glowing micro-scrolls upon the infected cherry tree. He could hear something happening within the mighty trunk. He then noticed a masked figure signalling for him to follow. The danger presented by the Oni had him ready to trust anyone he saw offering an escape so he attempted to run, but then realized his ankle was still snagged by some tree roots. He produced his slim sword Fusion and chopped at the confining vines, which sliced more easily this time due to the Oni having taken damage from the Akuro Taisan. Finally free, he ran over towards the well-disguised ninja. "Thanks. Are you fighting the Oni too?" he asked.

**

The strange man seemed determine to hide his bright glowing eyes from other people walking about the sturdy stadium, and between his hood and dark glasses he had them concealed thus far. He peeked at his ticket, then at the section numbers on the signs, slowly following them to a section along the first base line. He found his seat about 5 rows up from the front and rested there. Very few other viewers had arrived as most of them were still enjoying pre-game festivities or obtaining food and drink items.

 

[crematedstar]

The pig-tailed ninja gave a big grin. "Yep!" She gave him a peace sign. "Tee hee!" Then, her face turned to concern. "Are you alright?" she asked. Behind her, Jupiter sent an Oak Evolution at the Oni. Before the Oni could have a chance to react, Mercury sent a fog. "We should get out of the fog, though!" She called over to the blue-haired man.

"Chibi Moon!" Mask shouted over to a pink-haired girl.

"Right! I'll try to do Mama's attack!" Chibi called, twirling a miniature Eternal Tiare. "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" she called, twirling before allowing the light to envelop the entire area where the Oni are.

They braced for a counterattack but there was not one. The light faded, and some of the trees were healed. The others were still oni, but were stunned. The Senshi gasped.

"How come it didn't work?" Chibi Moon asked, with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry it did!" the ninja replied. "We just have to try it again!" She watched as the oni recovered. She outstretched a hand. "Chibi Moon, ready your attack! Venus, try one of your attacks!"

Venus nodded. "Right! Venus Love-Me Chain!" She threw one end of the chains at one of the Oni's trunks. "Multiply!" Multiple chains appeared to wrap around the rest of the oni.

"Let's do this! Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" Chibi Moon shouted, letting pink light engulf the area. "Please return to what you were before!"

The treants returned to trees once more.



The woman searching for the anomaly at the stadium stayed amongst the viewers. Children were being led by the hand through the crowds. More visitors were checking in with their tickets and buying souvenirs and treats. The woman sighed as she waited in line for ice cream. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

She waited for someone on the other side to pick it up and placed it towards her ear. "Hello?" asked a tired male voice. She could hear paws faintly tip-toed through a creaky wooden floor towards a door. "Shit..." She continued to listen in until the apparent cat on the other line was okay to talk. "I'm sorry about that, I went to bed late after studying the sample you gave me."

The woman exhaled. "Of course, take it Mei's still asleep?"

"This is one of her only off days."

"Ah, I see. So, um, any updates with the sample?"

"No matches so far."

"Hm, if it proves that the prints are from someone not from this world, we got another remnant of Chaos on our hands," the woman said, quietly.

"Excuse me! Next?" An available cashier called.

"Oh, right! Bennu, I need to get some ice cream! Putting you on hold."

"This is import--"

Click. The woman went up to the cashier to request a favorite flavor from the selection.

 

[SuperSaiyanMusashi]

"Oh, right!" Musashi quickly agreed, following his incognito rescuer out of the quickly thickening fog her friend in blue was producing. Once out of range of the dangers, he rested against one of the healthy, non-oni-occupied trees and observed the amazing team wield a series of spells. He smiled brightly upon seeing the first attacking treant return to normal with all signs of combat damage erased. His curiosity grew quickly as he wondered who they all were. Recalling how most people ran away screaming, he deduced that powers like those he saw these woman and their 1 tuxedo-clad friend wielding were fairly rare. He relaxed upon seeing the entire orchard return to its healthy, grounded state.

"Thanks for bailing me out of that one!" he told the entire team, briefly looking into each pair of eyes with friendly respect. "Glad I'm not the only one who's fought Oni before," he added while resting a hand on his bracer. "I'm...!" he started to introduce himself only to notice another squeeze and tug coming from his armlet. He then advised, "Those trees were a stall tactic; the Greater Oni is still somewhere around here!" He started in the direction the wrist-protector tugged in before looking to the young woman in the ninja outfit, taking her for the leader, and advised, "It's this way."



Slowly and steadily, more people took their seats in the stadium. Out on the field, players from both teams stretched, ran quick semi-sprints, threw baseballs to each other, and took practice swings with their bats. An umpire wearing a black cap informed the teams' coaches, "Opening ceremonies in 5!" The hooded stranger looked on curiously, but soon his attention shifted to the layout of the stadium, with a focus on the exits and paths.