Thanks again for your reviews! Sorry this took so long; I had to retype this whole thing because my computer crashed. Well, here it is!

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Chapter 4: Teki, Mistress of the Twilight

A dark aura seeped off of the deep navy cape that flowed behind her form with her crimson hair matching its length. Her indigo dress shone dully with a golden belt with a blood ruby embedded in the center resting around her waist. Her long pointed ears along with her bright silver skin marked with mysterious black tattoos and her multi-colored eyes—one shades of red, the other blue—suggested that she was a completely different race from their own. She stared down her victims with her ominous eyes, scaring Sakura more than she already was. What…is she? I’ve never sensed anything like this…Mikomi was afraid to admit that she was actually just as nervous as Sakura. But, it wouldn’t do them any good if they were both blubbering idiots, so Mikomi held her ground and took a defensive pose. “OK, who the hell are you?” Mikomi gritted her teeth.

The woman chuckled with an air of arrogance. “Well, you’re polite as ever…Mikomi.”

Mikomi was a little startled, but stood firm. Does everyone know me these days? She thought, remembering her not-so-fond encounter with Jueru earlier.

“Hm?...Yes, it does seem you’re quite popular these days, aren’t you,” the woman winked at Mikomi, who was confused at her words. “I already know both of you…yes, Sakura. Even you,” she stated, her eyes now focused on Sakura.

Mikomi glanced back at Sakura, who was even more terrified than before. She was happy to finally find out this girl’s name, but this wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. So, this lady can read minds. Great, Mikomi thought, knowing the mysterious woman had just heard her thoughts due to the smug expression on her face. Sakura, however, had no idea what to think at this point. “Who are you?!” Sakura shrieked in fear, repeating Mikomi’s question.

“OK, fine. My name is Teki,” she flicked some of her hair out of her face. “And I’ll be the one to send you both to your makers, if you don’t cooperate,” she added, obviously wanting to paralyze them, Sakura in particular.

“Sure. Pleasant introduction, lady,” Mikomi growled, “Now whaddya want?”

Teki laughed again, amused with Mikomi’s sudden show of strength. “What do you think? The necklace,” she smirked as Mikomi flinched at the mention of the necklace and finished, “And that girl hiding behind you.”

Mikomi and Sakura were both confused at this. The Hoshi No Tama Necklace I can understand, Mikomi winced at the thought again, But…this girl? I don’t get it…And of course, this did not make Sakura feel any better about the situation. Now a pointy-eared alien woman wanted her of all people for something. After agonizing over what it could be for a moment, she outright asked, “Why me?” with both of them hoping for a real answer.

“Why you? Because you’re a Katasura, that’s why,” came the blunt response.

Mikomi’s ears pricked up at the word, but Sakura was still confused. “W-what does my last name have to do with—”

“Your last name is Katasura?” Mikomi interrupted, looking Sakura straight in the eyes.

“Y-yeah…why?”

Could that mean that…Mikomi turned to glare at Teki. At this point, there couldn’t be any other explanation. “Are…you the one who kidnapped Kari?”

Teki had a twisted grin of pleasure. “Maybe.”

That proved it. “Then…you…” Mikomi snapped, “YOU framed me!” Mikomi couldn’t believe that the one responsible for stirring up all that trouble was staring her right in the face. She was never one for fighting, but…She’s the reason why my sisters and I were driven out of town…I bet she’s the one responsible for the king and queen ‘mysteriously vanishing’ too, Mikomi thought, now well aware of Teki’s abilities.

“You catch on quick, reincarnation,” Teki chuckled. “You’ll never change, will you?”

Mikomi didn’t know what Teki meant by that (while Sakura was utterly lost with this whole conversation), but she still wanted answers. “Why would you go through that kind of trouble—”

“You’re an obstacle,” Teki answered calmly, “I needed something to take you down…but I guess I should give the young reincarnation more credit…”

“Nice to see I’m loved.” Mikomi was starting to get annoyed with the recurring ‘reincarnation’ comment, and Sakura was sick of being utterly confused with this whole conversation.

“What are you two talking about?” Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs, feeling like she was back on Mirai scolding Akira for blowing the power again. “Why am I even involved in this anyhow?”

Teki cackled, sending a shiver up Sakura’s spine. “Oh don’t worry. Once you come with me, you’ll understand everything, young Sakura,” Teki chanted, treating Sakura like a small child.

Sakura was not fond of this. “You better stay away from me, or else!” she shouted again, feeling herself trembling once more.

“Or else what?”

Sakura retreated behind Mikomi. She hadn’t come up with a comeback. She stammered at first, then responded with a quick “We’ll beat you up good!” before hiding herself behind Mikomi, much to Mikomi’s annoyance and dismay.

“Ooh. I’m so scared,” came Teki’s sarcastic reply, followed by another hearty cackle.

Mikomi couldn’t blame Teki’s obvious response; that was the worst bluff she had ever heard, and she let Sakura know it as well. Sakura whispered back to her in agreement and mumbled about how she was completely embarrassed with her pathetic display of force. “Well then, if you’re so adamant in defeating me…” Teki formed a bright blue lightning bolt in her hand. “Amuse me, Katasura!” she called as she shot it at where Mikomi and Sakura stood.

Forgetting all about the fact that Mikomi was right in front of her, Sakura ran away from the lightning bolt on impulse with it following her wherever she went. “Get down!” Mikomi shouted as she pushed Sakura out of the line of fire and got hit by it herself. Sakura shrieked as she heard the lightning crackle and saw the dark sparks flying everywhere. Wait a minute…Sakura blinked once. Then twice. That fox girl…she saved me…? Sakura thought in shock as she saw Mikomi’s huddled figure in front of her.

The odd feeling in Mikomi’s body ranged from an intense pain to a crippling numbness. Agh…I feel like I just went through hell and back! What kind of attack was…? Mikomi tried to get up, but stumbled. Sakura, seeing Mikomi struggling, rushed to help her. “Hey, fox girl, are you OK?” she asked while she helped the alien girl up, despite the fact that she already knew the answer.

Mikomi winced in pain before answering. “I…I’m alright. But I do have a name, y’know,” she added, not liking being reminded of her bloodline despite the fact that the Kari-look-alike didn’t know any better.

Sakura frowned. “You just got hit by weird looking lightning that somehow shot outta that lady’s hands, and you say you’re ‘alright’?” She hoped that Mikomi was bluffing; otherwise, it would mean that Sakura was trapped on an alien world where forests existed and uncivilized super-powered invincible freaks fought endlessly. Worse, she’d be alone in this world. Which would be bad. Real bad.

But Mikomi continued her bluff. “Yeah. T-this is nothing. I just…underestimated her, that’s all.” Mikomi took off the bow and quiver and laid them by Sakura’s feet, immediately relieving some of her pain and giving her enough energy to glare at Teki.

Teki was pleased with Mikomi’s persistence. “And I you. You shouldn’t be conscious, much less able to stand. I guess being a half-breed does have its advantages, now doesn’t it?”

“You—” That remark made Mikomi forget all about her pain. Muttering a few words under her breath in what seemed to be a foreign language to Sakura, she dashed toward Teki with a flamethrower of kitsune-bi flying out of the palms of her hands. Teki, however, dodged the blast with ease and jabbed Mikomi from behind, knocking her to the other side of the forest clearing. “You know, it isn’t wise to say your attack out loud, girl,” Teki remarked, not expecting Mikomi to get up this time.

“You’re…not getting rid of me that easy.” Mikomi dug her claws into the ground as she struggled to get up again.

“Hm. You’re a persistent one,” Teki chuckled, enjoying the girl’s suffering.

“Damn…right.” Mikomi tried to charge up another kitsune-bi ball, but it fizzled out. She had used too much energy in her overreacting attacks to muster anything more, and she doubled up in pain, coughing up some blood as she did so. Teki laughed again. “That’s what you get for not accepting your race, half-breed. It’s over.”

Sakura felt her stomach turn at this sight. There’s gotta be something I can do…I can’t just stand here and do nothing! She noticed the silver bow and quiver by her feet. Is this…this planet’s idea of a bow or something? She was now convinced that this world was inhabited by super-powered freaks. But I gotta do something or else I’ll be killed by that freaky lady, Sakura thought as she attempted to pick up the weapon.

Teki caught on immediately and whirled over to Sakura, almost as if she was afraid of what Sakura might do. “You’re not going to get a chance, girl.” Before Mikomi could call and warn her, Teki had already used her telekinetic powers to throw Sakura—bow and all—into a tree, knocking her out instantly. Dammit…Kari…! Mikomi managed to get back up, holding a branch to keep her balance.

“Pity you couldn’t save her,” Teki sighed mockingly, turning back to her weakened obstacle. “I know she may resemble Kari to you, but she is what you would call one half of a perfect whole. Sakura Katasura of Mirai…I need her for my plan,” she paused. “As well as that necklace of yours.”

“I-I won’t let—” Mikomi remained stubborn and tried to punch Teki again, only to be knocked back to the ground.

“Give up, will you? You can’t win.” Teki was starting to get sick of the half-breed’s persistence. “I’m only going to ask once: hand over the Hoshi No Tama Necklace now, or face the consequences. You wouldn’t want your sisters to find out you’d been murdered by a demon, would you?” Her eyes lit up as she listened to some of Mikomi’s subconscious thoughts. “That’s right. Doubting yourself, Mikomi?”

Mikomi winced, hating her mind games. Damn, I…I don’t have a choice now… Mikomi managed to get on her knees. “F-fine. You can have the necklace.” Despite her words, she kept a defiant glare fixed on Teki.

Teki couldn’t help but laugh again. “Good girl. Get it.”

Reluctantly, Mikomi took off her backpack and did what she was told. She paused and stared at the necklace. The blood-red Hoshi No Tama had a fierce kitsune-bi raging inside of it, which made Mikomi shiver. She could sense the enormous power inside the cursed necklace, and she found herself tempted to put it on. No, no…I can’t…Jueru said—But, Mikomi found a loophole. ‘Unless it is an emergency’…Sorry Jueru, but I’d say this classifies as one!

Without another thought, Mikomi put on the Hoshi No Tama Necklace. Teki’s eyes grew wide in surprise, then she proceeded to cackle once more. “You still think you can win? You think you, of all people, can wield the power of the Hoshi No Tama Necklace?”

Teki’s arrogance faded as Mikomi cackled out loud in a distorted voice. “You see…you didn’t let me finish, Teki.” Mikomi got up as if nothing had happened earlier. Dark energy swirled around her form, reacting to the Hoshi No Tama Necklace. Her eyes had turned a misted red-gray, and her hair was a deeper red than before. Her gestures seemed as though someone had possessed her, but Teki didn’t believe it. “You can have the necklace…over my dead body!”

Teki smirked. “Well then, half-breed…that can be arranged!”

Teki formed and threw some dark lightning bolts at Mikomi, only for her to catch and throw them right back at her. Teki dodged the lightning with little difficulty, which made Mikomi laugh all the harder. “What’s wrong? I thought we were going to have some fun…” Mikomi cocked her head to the side with a psychotic grin on her face. “Well? Don’t keep me waiting, Teki.”

Not giving her a chance to react, Mikomi charged Teki with dark kitsune-bi blasts shooting out of the tips of her fingers. Teki could dodge them, but not easily. Once Mikomi felt she had enough fun, she released a large fiery blast out of her right hand that her previous flamethrower couldn’t even compare to. Unable to dodge it, Teki formed a barrier around herself, weakening the attack enough that she only had minor scratches.

Mikomi seemed to be taking more pleasure in this fight than Teki had previously. “Not bad, not bad at all!” she applauded Teki. “But! That was only a flicker of my power, fool. Can you handle this?” Mikomi did a few fast-moving hand-signs before shouting out, “Kitsune Kuragari Genso!”

No sooner than when those words escaped Mikomi’s lips was Teki surrounded by a mob of fiery clones with Mikomi’s likeness. So this…is the Hoshi No Tama Necklace’s true power. Teki had seen this technique done long ago, but it could only be done by a high-ranking kitsune. Not some halfling. Teki was forced to come to the conclusion that she couldn’t be fighting Mikomi anymore; she had to be fighting a higher power of some sort.

Bravo. Took real guts to come to that conclusion, eh Teki?

“What? That voice…it can’t be.” Teki tried to see where the voice was coming from.

Oh, I’m sorry. You can’t see me right now can you? My sincerest apologies.

The owner of the voice became somewhat visible among the group of clones. All Teki could make out was that it was a young blonde-haired boy no older than Mikomi—and that was more than enough. “You! I thought you were—”

Dead, right? The boy laughed and continued the conversation using telepathy, apparently the only way he could do so. Not the first time I’ve heard that remark. Now isn’t this a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into? Reminds you of the good ol’ days, huh?

Teki glared at what she hoped was an illusion. “Shut up. You’re the one who started all of this in the first place.”

Sure, if you go by what he tells you. Anyway, maybe if you plead for your life now, Mikomi won’t kill you. Maybe just toy with you some more. The boy laughed again, his voice still dripping with sarcasm. I’d love to help you out, but she could barely hear me without the necklace on; trying while she’s possessed by the Kumiho? Sorry, but that’s one bridge I won’t cross.

“What?” Teki laughed once more. “The Kumiho, the Almighty Reiko? You can’t be serious—”

The boy raised an eyebrow and smirked. Am I? He chuckled, gesturing to the clones.

Teki’s laughter stopped abruptly as her eyes fell on Mikomi, who was preparing another attack, forming hand-signs that would only end with a devastating blast that would kill everyone there; a technique that was strictly forbidden in all laws of kitsune magic. “Not that—” Teki went to question the mysterious young boy further, only to find that he had apparently fled. Curse you, Kyubi…

“Now then, it’s time to finish you off,” Mikomi chuckled, having formed the last hand-sign. “Tis a shame too…I had higher expectations of a Dark Elf.” Finally, the possessed Mikomi shouted out the spell, and a blinding light filled the area, consuming everything in its path.

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Please review! --MTK