Lucas stood back from the others, disbelief written on his face. The emptiness had already sunken in, but he was still in shock at the sight of his comrads and how they were taking it. He wanted to help, but nothing he could say or do would help. They all needed time to recover and rest from the battle. "Maybe we should all head home and meet tomorrow to decide what would be best." h suggested softly.
Ahou-chan pushed herself away from the horrid scene, all three feet and someat inches shaking in fury, hands clenching and unclenching faster than the normal eye could see.
"Jaku-chan... Someone unkawaii did this to Jaku-chan... Ahou-chan bet it was the unkawaii Dark Kingdom! Ahou-chan will ultra-kawaiily avenge her jester-chan!!!" she shrieked, throwing a tiny fist in the air and sending a blue hail-stone-sized fireball through the ceiling.
Rikko continued to chase Dura, slowly catching up with her, stopping only as teh bugs went wizzing past him. *What the ....* he thought as he watched them fly away. He looked and saw Dura already on the move again. "I'll never forgive myself if I let something happen to her." he said as he took up running after her again. "DURA YOU BAKA! WAIT FOR ME!" he yelled as he tried to close the gap between them. *Is it just me or is she taller than before?* he thought as he ran after her from behind.
Rikko caught Dura kneeling beside Jakurin. She reached up for Ahou-chan. "Ahou! Calm down... it wasn't the Dark Kingdom... it was..."
She choked up; she didn't want to finish. "... one of ours." Umino balked back. "One of yours?"
Dura nodded. "His name's the Benefactor... he gave us all our powers... and now he's taken them all away! Every one of us! I've been de-Amazonned!"
Umino landed. "Aw, no...!"
Dura shook her head. "I guess I should be glad... I won't be getting any bigger... but now I feel so... empty."
Empty is just what Jakurin felt. See also: worn out, worn down, sore, confused, and the like.
There were voices above her. What were they saying? She struggled to reach the light, to get to those voices...
But her body was stubborn and placed her into dark slumber again.
Outside, Jakurin's eyes fluttered, but nothing more, the bleeding still slowed, but the swelling immense on her face.
"Jaku-chan!!" cried the little elf-girl quickly. "Jaku-chaaaaan!" she sobbed, her tiny shoulders shaking as she sank to her bottom, legs splayed out to the sides. "Jaku-chaaaaaaaan!!"
Dura turned to the little pixie shrieker. "Ahou," she said quietly more thanks to fatigue than calm. "Shh. She's all right. Screaming won't..."
"Amazonia-chan, BE QUIET!" Ahou-chan tearfully barked to Dura. "Ahou-chan's friend and Ahou-chan can't stand to be in this unkawaii place anymore! Ahou-chan's gonna take Jaku-chan home where it's safe!" And she floated up and tugged away at Jakurin's battle-weary body, which weighed her down like an anchored balloon. After pulling and grunting repeatedly, she demanded, "Buggy-chan! Help Ahou-chan pull up!"
Silently, Umino shrugged to Dura, and flew over to assist.
Back in the distance, the sirens drew closer, right after the nick of time, as sadly usual.
Lucas looked over his shoulder at the flashing lights approaching at rapid speeds. "We need to go. Staying around won't help matters and we'll have to explain our beinging here." he said to Mark and Misa. "Let go."
"H-hai..." a still confused Misa muttered. Then, she followed Lucas outside the gym.
Jay looked up at the hospital. "Here we are...I'm looking forward to this about as much as getting teeth pulled." He walked inside to break the news...
Mark nodded, the reality of the situation still not set in. "Yeah. Vacate. Good idea." He muttered, his eyes on the cops, and then on his car. "Think we should break for it?" he asked Lucas.
Floating gently through the city air, the Dark Bug and Ahou-chan carried Jakurin Kitsune-Sennyo back toward Tudo's. Umino had one feeler free to hit the speed dial on his cell phone. After a ring, he got an uneasy answer. "Tudo's Oko--?" It stopped.
"Hello, Sennyo-san Tudo?" aked Umino.
"H-hai?"
"I'd like to report the whereabouts on Jakurin Kitsune and Ureshii. They're well. Jakurin's a bit bruised, but nothing serious."
Dead silence for a few seconds. Then, "Oh, thank Kami!"
"They'll be back shortly," Umino reassured. "I'd recommend getting a doctor to check up on Jakurin, but it's nothing serious."
"Arigato! Domo Ariagto!" Tudo almost sang. "Who's dropping them off? Who is this?"
Umino paused. He didn't know how to answer.
"Hello? Moshi-moshi? Who is this? Are you a student?"
The Dark Bug shook his head. There was no way to receive his thanks in person. Tudo had had enough scares for one day. He disconnected, and turned the phone off as he flew toward the commercial district.
It dawned on him that he and Ahou-chan, two former Dark Warriors, might be the only powered defense between his Senshi friends, and the Dark Kingdom. The fight was up to him and her.
He didn't relish it as much as he guessed he would.
Elizabeth watched as the stranges had come and gone. Taking Jakurin with them to get help. *What is going on around here?* she thought to herself. The unwanting sound of sirens loomed in the distance. *I better go,* she thought and started to walk quickly home.
Dura looked at the insect and imp, flying away with her friend. Then she began to jog lightly, to make sure she'd be okay.
When she reached the sidwalk, though, a delivery van pulled up right in front of her. The driver's door swung open.
"Dura! DURA!"
Leaping out of the cab was her tearful, frightened father. He wrapped his hands around his daughter and hugged her close. "You're all right! You're all right!"
She winced a little from his squeezing a sore spot from the fight, but she hid it well. "Yeah, Dad, I..."
"Sshh. Don't talk. Let's get you home."
He tugged with a might that Dura used with her plushies whenever she hugged them after an especially crummy day. Following, she worked her way around to the passenger side, and squeezed in. As they tooled down the road, she mulled over the morning, and how angry she was with her folks then.
And how horrible it would have been if she had been killed, and that outburst would've been the last memory of her they had.
She fished a chip from her dad's open package of Butter and Herb prawn crackers. She wasn't hungry, really. But she figured it would do until her Mom served lunch.
Lucas nodded slowly. "Yeah, lets go." he said holdign the door open for Misa and then climbed in himself. "Looks like school will be closed for a while now." he muttered as they drove off.

---

The End