It was weakening.

Ever since a week ago, when a great dark power was vanquished, Rei had been expending more and more energy to keep the powerful monster contained beneath the shrine, sealed behind hundreds of Ofuda and other shinto seals. Those who would come to the shrine more often would know that she had seemed more tired, and she was moving more slowly from a lack of energy. Momiji and Botan would try to help in their own way, but they  could only do but so much for the Priestess.

As Rei awoke this morning, she could feel it failing. The the beast had grown in strength yet again, and that her seals were unraveling one by one. It would only be a matter of hours before it would escape.

Not that Rei would stand idly by.

Acting as if nothing was wrong, she picked up the phone in the office of the shrine, dialing to Momiji to relay a message.

"Good Morning Momiji. I'm just calling you today to ask that you stay home from any shrine work. Today is a special circumstance when the shrine will be closed to the public and I have some advanced work to do that I fear you might not be ready for right now.  I also believe you have exams soon, yes? Take this as an opportunity to study: Miko duties come second to your education. Oh, but if you do see Valdis, please tell her that I need to see her to speak with her about her inner demons. It's nothing that concerns you, just a part of the tasks I must complete today." she says, leaving a voicemail when the phone went to that point.

Now that the message was hopefully relayed, the Priestess set to work, putting up signs at the steps of Hikawa that would indicate that there was a closing this day. She would then spend the next several hours, meticulously setting up Ofuda along the entirety of the perimeter. David had likely run off by this point, doing his own business. It was fine, since he was under no obligation for today.

At one point, Rei would fall to her knees, holding her weight up by her palms, breathing heavily. The snow on the ground would begin to melt just a little and it seemed like the temperature had risen just enough.

It would be fine. It had to be.

After enough work had been done, and Rei felt she had done as much preparation as she could for the containment, she returns to her quarters and digs through her closet for several minutes, looking in a forgotten corner where at last she pulls out a long bow and a quiver filled with white feathered arows. She inspects a few arrows from the quiver, making certain that the kanji she had painstakingly inscribed in them was still there, before she takes a deep breath, sighs, and straps her quiver around herself while taking the bow in hand.

Walking out, she had a solemn expression on her face. Her eyes were closed, and she took a deep breath knowing the tribulation that was to come. A deafening roar was audible in her soul, as she approached where the hidden passageway. If she was lucky there would be assistance coming.

If not...well the fates will decide the outcome.


By the time that anyone would arrive, they would hear a monstrous roar and the sound of thrashing. Rising the stairs, there would be several scorch marks on the ground where snow had been melted along with some damaged trees and foliage.  In the north side of the shrine, an immensely powerful youma was launching black fireballs out of it's mouth at Rei, whom was constantly moving and firing arrows at the creature. Burns on her body would indicate she hadn't been agile enough at least once. An arrow would fly into the creature's chest as Rei shouts 'Evil Be Gone', causing a white flash that results in a deep pain in the creature. However, the anger would compel the beast to pull the arrow out and lunge forward quickly, trying to grasp at Rei.

The overall figure of the creature was humanoid, while the face was very oni-like. It was hunched over when standing still, but it could reach eight feet high while standing. The skin was a dark gray with patches of fur along it.

When it's sharp teeth open enough, one would notice dark purple energy in it's esophagus. Four horns spiraled out of it's head, resulting in quite the menacing appearance.

Val got the message from one of the twit wits...she found it odd and slightly troubling that she would request to see her. After all they had already talked about her inner demons.... Feeling that something was off, Val hurried to gather her stuff. She was in the middle of a photo shoot for some modeling gig when she had gotten the message. Apologizing; and explaining that something urgent needed her attention she excused herself from the shoot. Valdis proceeded to change and leave right from there.

She had even taken a taxi to get to the shrine faster, something which she normally didn't do. She hopped out and paid when they pulled up to the steps and began to run up them two by two. Now that she was in range of the shrine she was really concerned. She could sense the barriers that Granny had put up around the shrine. As she ran up the LONG set of stairs she pulled out her cell phone and called Sophia; getting the voice mail she left a message.

"Hey something's up at the shrine; get Ama and whoever else and bring them here please...could be a false alarm but ...never mind there are scorch marks on the stairs..not a false alarm...Defiantly bring Ama I can stall until you guys get here..but hurry"

She clicked the phone shut and shoved it in her jean pocket. She wore a black bombers jacket with white stripes along the cuffs and collar. It was left open to reveal a plain white shirt with a blue collar along with some skinny jeans. It wasn't fashionable but it was what she had in her bag to change into between photo shoots. She wore old beat up sneakers as well and her hair was pulled into a messy pony tail. As she reached the top of the steps her ears began to taper off into points and her hair turned a snowy white. Her eyes bled into maroon disks, and purple markings formed on her eyelids, wrists, and ankles.

Valdis sprinted across the shrine grounds her speed significantly increased from her transformation. When Granny and the youma came into view Valids jumped high in the air, sailing above Reis head. Purple flames had surrounded her body and arched out into large wings. The form of a fiery bird taking its shape around her as her hands were extended towards the youma. The large flaming bird shot out from around Valdis and consumed the large youma. As Vals feet hit the ground she wasted no time in turning around and grabbing Granny. Picking her up with ease as she sprinted to a safer spot.

"Rest Granny; I'll take it from here. Sophia and the others should be here soon"

Valdis gave her a reassuring smile; her fangs poking out the side of her mouth.
"We'll try to return him back to normal if there's enough humanity left in him"

She left at that to face the beast once more, all she needed to do was keep him busy until Sophia and Ama and anyone else could get there. She wished she could heal granny but there really wasn't enough time for that. The old lady would have to suffer a bit longer.

Sophia’s halfway home from school when she checks her voicemail. She doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary when she clicks to play her messages back. However, if anyone was watching the girl walk home, they’d notice her suddenly freeze as it plays back to her.

She calls Ama, but the message is brief, “Valdis called me. Something is going on at Hikawa Jinja. I don’t know what, but you’re needed there. I’ll meet you there!” As she moves as fast as she can, she makes a point to call Kail, David, Kousuke, Keitha, Kaguya, Yuki, and Kenny with the same message: “Emergency at Hikawa Jinja. Meet you guys over there.”

She’s out of breath by the time she reaches the steps, but for the first time, she could feel something uneasy in the air. The roaring sound pretty much answers all her questions. “Venus Power, Make Up,” she says before running toward the Northern end of the shrine.

A large youma destroying the shrine was the last thing she really expected to happen. Calling her bow with the words “Bow of Eros”, she runs up to Valdis. “What is going on here? Why is that here?” She’s curious… she could have sworn this was a safe place. She takes a look at the beast’s heart while ready to shield the two from harm.

Amarissa was studying and listening to relaxing rain music when she received Sophia's call. "I'll be right there," she manages before the call is over. She changed her shorts for jeans and a thick navy sweater that made her blue eyes stand out, then she pulled on her boots and left on her bike.

Pulling to a stop outside the shrine and locking her bike, she knew already something wasn't right. Amarissa looked around for a convenient spot to transform. Seeing none, she dove into some nearby bushes instead. A flash of silver light gave her away and if anybody was watching they would see her crawl out of the shrubbery in her sailor uniform, which would be quite amusing. Standing, she brushed herself off and then headed up the stairs.

By the time Amarissa got to the top, it was open mayhem. "What on earth is that? How did it get here? and what do you want us to do with it?" she asked Valdis, who clearly had an ulterior motive here in her opinion. She already had her own bow and arrows and was simply waiting for the plan.

Kail was about to do some training until he got the phone call from Sophia and that struck a major cord within him. He was in the area and ran to the temple and as he got there, the red head spots Amarissa running to the temple. And since it was an emergency the redhead ran up the stairs as quickly as he could. Once he saw the last remaining steps he transforms into his alter ego. Seeing that the oni was on a rampage he had to act quickly. "I am going to be slightly limited on what I can do. I don't want to burn down the temple. But I can keep its attention on me for now" he said and took a deep breath. He then slowly approaches the monster "Fury Armor" as flames consumed Kail and then vanished as he was now in his armored form. His sword now red and giving off a lot of heat.

He then dashes forward on to the oni "Fiend your rampage stops here HAVE AT YOU" Kail said as he then swings his sword at the monster with a double handed grip. He was going to get its attention and hold it off for a bit. Plus it would give both Amarissa and Sophia a prime chance to pelt it with arrows.

The message was short, but to the point. The one day, the one pathetic day he decided to leave the shrine for some recon work, and things had to go downhill. He sprinted, his worn knees clicking and rubbing against the weathered cartilage. By the time he got there, it was just a mess.

He moved quickly, ducking behind the edge of the fenceline, and tried to work his way into the shrine. Yinko hoped she hadn't moved the weapon, the .50 caliber assault rifle still ready to rock. Fumbling through the drawer in the entry-way, David slapped a magazine home, pressed the bolt release, and sprinted back out towards the grounds.

The others started trying to subdue the creature, and that... just simply wouldn't do. They should have just exterminated it, blown it all to hell, and let whatever impotent gods were involved sort it out.

Standing beside Priestess Hino, David took aim for the creature's center of mass, and fired burst after burst of .50 Beowulf.

The monstrous youma looks startled when Valdis enters the area and swoops in plucking Rei up and carrying her off. The purple bolt of flame that was thrown at the youma is halted by a fearsome roar that projects a countering mass of energy that halts the bird projectile. It stands upright, coming up to it's full height while staring down Valdis with intense malice.

At this moment, the two archer Senshi arrive on the sidelines where Rei and Valdis landed, while the Knight of Mars enters the battle with his heavy armor mode. While Killian's first swing landed on the right arm of the beast, it bounces off from thick, armor-like skin. The fiery knight is then picked up off the ground by the creature and grasped firmly, the fingers extending around the armored mass, showing no obvious strain.

The sound of gunshots rings through the air as David arrives, causing the creature to spin around and throw Killian at David with impressive force, sending the metal knight flying through the air and in the path of David. While he will likely dodge the thrown Killian, Killian will either send David flying and tumbling with him, or just bounce off the ground, stopping about a hundred feet away on a patch of ice with the prayer shrine nearby.

The creature roars again, nearly deafeningly, as it looks to where the assembled group is nearby and gathers a mass of energy in front of it's mouth. The massive body seems to tremble as it accumulates power, releasing it several seconds later in a large ball which seemed to lack any obvious stability with the way the sphere pulsed on it's edges, contorting randomly.

Rei found herself from staring the creature down, preparing to bolt at the last minute to evade a grab and throw an Ofuda, to suddenly being swooped up by Valdis and being propelled off. She was obviously stunned by Valdis new form, but before she could scold Valdis she had darted off again. When Sophia and Amarissa arrived in their senshi forms, asking about the situation, she frowns looking at it when it is using Killian as a bowling ball.

"That used to be a priest here, before he played with dark magics and got overwhelmed by the evil of covenant powers. I had kept him sealed here intending to prevent him from rampaging across the land since it would decimate soldiers and innocent people, but ever since that powerful Covenant leader was killed it had been in a berserk rage, growing more powerful by the day." she says,as she notches another arrow, raising it to her bow. Sophia and Amarissa would notice that there were kanji symbols written on the shaft and engraved upon each arrowhead as she took her aim. The visage was that of the stereotypical Shinto Priestess with bow in hand as she tried to pick out a target on the creature and settled for the midsection.

"It has to be stopped here or many will die. I've surrounded the shrine in Ofuda to contain the creature, but if it is able to run free, then he will overwhelm them quite quickly." she says, as she releases the notched arrow, shouting 'Akuryo Taisan',

Valdis was glad that her cavalry arrived quicker then planed; that meant less of a cat and mouse game; the mouse being her. Her maroon eyes glanced at Sophia only for a moment.

"Glad you could arrive so quickly; remember that time when you were asking about the funerals and I came over all bloody saying I was feeding my new friend cookies or something along those lines. Well meet fluffy"

Valdis watched as the others assembled she; nodded towards Kail when He said his aim was to distract it. That would buy them some time. Her attention turned to Ama would was waiting for instructions; her eyebrows raised momentarily giving away the shock it had given her.

"Well...first things first; Little Mouse that use to be a priest here at the shrine, he's similar to me in using chaotic energy to try to fight the covenant; only things went wrong the pain of all of it consumed him and this is what you see... I need you to see into his heart see if there's any shred of humanity left in him. "

She glanced back at the man gone beast; this could be her future standing there; she needed to know if there was a way back. She hoped to god there was; not only for her but also for Grannys sake. She had been close to this man.

"He use to have the hots for Granny; see if you can find a spark of that in him if so please use those creepy love emotion things I know you have."

Valdis looked at Ama.

"Ama whether we find a spark of humanity or not we're going to need you to ultimately pull the same move you did with Scorpio. Until then we need to wear him down; I'm not as familiar with your attacks as I am with Sophia so I will trust your judgment. His biggest attack is energy that comes from its mouth; along with its strength. Both you and Sophia are ranged attackers; stay behind him if you can so prepare to shoot on the move. His a big target I trust you both not to miss. Ama when you think we've whittled him down enough let us know when to lend you our energy so you can use that final attack. "

She looked back at little mouse.

"You said Scorpio died because he didn't have enough humanity left after Ama's attack; I'm hoping if you can find that spark you can enhance it enough to give him some hope. "

There had been a reason she had wanted both Sophia and Ama at the very least to fight this Youma; and there team work on this was a theory at best but it was the only one she had at the moment and she had run out of time to think of another. Her explanation had been said fast, but hopefully the two understood. Valdis looked back when a shot rang out her eyes quickly focusing on Granny and him. She shouted back to him.

"Protect Granny; aim at his feet or any energy balls coming in. We want to hamper its movements! Granny go get some chains covered in Ofuda, I know you have them! We'll need them!"

She blinked when Kail came flying; she trusted Yinko to get Granny out of the way. She worried for her would be protector but figured his mother gave him worse beatings then that. But her attention was brought back to the swirling mass of energy that was beginning to form in the beasts mouth. Well there attacks canceled each other's once before. Purple flames surrounded her and arched out like wings on her back; and once more the phoenix flew. Aiming to cancel out the powerful attack; there was some level of pride she could match the beasts attack...but he'd likely overwhelm her in strength. She darted away from Sophia and Ama; shooting a round of smaller flames around the creatures legs...and lower anatomy... She would draw its attention to her.

Sophia makes her bow disappear as Valdis explains the situation. One can’t facilitate feelings of love with a weapon in hand, so the bow was only counterproductive. “Last time, Scorpio’s desire was ultimately corrupted. I imagine it’s the same with him, so protecting Rei is priority here,” she calls to the team.

She looks at Valdis and smiles, “Yeah, I guess sometimes you do have to do something reckless if a plan has any chance of working. Keep him in the same place, but don’t hurt him. And if he attacks me, don’t attack back.”

Her love powers flare with the belief the priest and Rei can be united again. She calmly walks closer to former priest as if approaching a small animal rather than a large youma. She looks at him like a dear friend with absolutely no evidence of hostility. “I know you remember her, and I know you want to protect her and everyone. Those feelings are in there somewhere. Please remember…”

“We all have feelings that we aren’t worth anything. All of us have been there. But you are. Someone in this world cares about you more than anything else, and that’s something most dream about. And you are worthy of that too! You have a noble heart, which you managed to keep even in this state. With or without supernatural powers, you were meant do great things for this world. As a priest of this shrine, you can keep a beacon of hope for all people to look to. And the future’s not hopeless or lost. Not if you reach out for the happiness you want. Don’t lose yourself in this darkness.”

When she gets close enough in distance, she sits down in front of the former priest like the two are about to hold a civil conversation. She prepares a shield in case he attacks her, but she seems unworried for the most part.

“Rei and all of us believe in and care about you. It’s obvious that she misses you, so please remember who and what you are.”

Kaguya had gotten the message had to rush from her home and would take awhile to get there. Since it was far and she was on foot and double timed it. The name of the temple was something that sounded familure to her but at the same time it was not. She gets to the stairs and feels something very much off as the earth was telling her that there was trouble. Kaguya runs up the stairs and pulls out her transformation item. "Earth Planet MAKE UP" she called out and transformed into Sailor Earth. As she got to the final step she sees both Sailor Venus and Moon attacking the enemy. As well as the Knight of Mars although she sees the knight get thrown into the Venus Knight and a Priestess.

The pink haired senshi reacts and runs like a mad woman to the Venus Knight and the Priestess. "MAGNA SHELL" she calls out throwing her hands forward and creating a large electromagnetic barrier screen. It becomes active and the knight of mars gets caught and causes Kaguya barely be able to hold it due to the force of Kail being thrown. None the less he was stopped and she drops it "This is the second time I saved your skin. You owe me big Honokishi" she said and pants a bit. She then observes Sophia approaching the massive Oni. Trying to calm it like a angry or cornered animal. This made her jaw drop at this. As this was a stupid action as the Oni was much more primal and violent.

She knew that Kail could take a massive hit due to him having armor but with Sophia though. She had nothing to protect herself from that kind of harm. Kaguya was hesitating to make an attack on the oni as she was not sure if the creature would start to counter attack them. Or if Sophia's actions would be able to reach the creature.

"Earth, how strong is that defense?" Yinko growled. "How long can you hold out?" Pulling Hino further away from combat, he guided her down the stairway of the shrine towards a patch of brush just off the main trail. Cloaking her with his jacket and trying to use the surrounding foliage for additional cover, he checked his ammo supply, took a steadying breath, and started to work the powers free in his mind.

He'd have to fry another brain, he knew. Priestess Hino wasn't going to like this, not one bit.

"When it's over," he started, looking at Rei, "just... I'll leave, okay? I'll ditch and go somewhere, so you don't have to deal with the repercussions."

Sailor Moon thought that Valdis and Sophia were nuts but she just nodded. It didn't really matter to her, as Valdis had pointed out, she'd end up doing the same move either way. The only difference would be the possible outcome of such an attack. "Everyone, we're going to try this their way. That means no attacking the youma, just basic defense. Save your energy, I'll need it for the final attack. Sophia can try and reason with it, and we'll see what happens in the end," Amarissa stated, loudly, making sure everyone could hear here and directing her gaze to each person individually.

Kail not expected something like being picked up nor his super heated blade not being able to cut through the oni, caught him by surprise. He feels the force around him and then feels being thrown. This was just getting a bit rediculess on how many of the powerful covenant were coming up now. As he sails through the air, Kail hits something and hears a all too familure voice and turns to the senshi of earth. "Yeah...yeah....why don't I start running a tab" he weezed out and was trying to get oxygen back into his lungs. He then sees Sophia trying to calm the oni and at this point just went with it. Unless the ogre started to attack all of them again. Kail gets into a stance that could make him strike the enemy really quickly or defend Sophia from the massive enemy.

When the monster was confronted by Sophia trying to emit her love abilities, it pauses in it's tracks. It hesitates as the emotional influence begins to attempt to seep in, each inch of the creature's body seemed to be influenced. It almost seemed as though she might be getting through until...

A red glow emits around the youma, like a shell of energy. The wand that Amarissa had would begin to beep a little, as a small projection would emit from the gem in the middle of the base, showing a 'radar' projection of sorts and a red blip from the direction of the youma.

The youma's mind goes into a berserker state, and sensing the influence coming from Sophia, raises a long clawed hand to smash her into bits, her salvation only from the shield she was wise to project before hand. The beast begins to smash at the Venus Shield, trying to knock her away, the shield gradually depleting from the repeated strikes.

...And on the seventh strike the shield shatters into light particles. Claw finding it's way to lightly protected flesh and slashing across Sophia's chest starting from her right shoulder down to her lower abdomen. While the claw strike would find flesh, the wound would only be half an inch deep causing substantial bleeding.

When Valdis tries to counteract the burst of energy, it explodes violently, spreading purple and orange flames within a twenty foot area making the area around more hazardous.