"Chief, we found another one."
     "What do you mean? The same as the other three?"
     "Yeah, completely drained of energy in the shower."
     A pair of paramedics wheeled a gurney out of the main doors of a certain building, the occupant a girl of 18 or 19 years of age. Her violet hair hung in wet clumps about her pale face. Her slight body was draped in a magenta bath towel and a white sheet. As she was being loaded in an awaiting ambulance Alex West, Lina Inverse, Zelgadis Greywords, and Sylphiel Nells Raada reached the top of the stairs that led to the breeze way. When Alex saw the ambulance he stopped.
     "No," he said quietly, "not again."
     "What's wrong Alex?" Zelgadis asked.
     "That's the fourth one this week," they heard the officer on the scene say into his microphone.
     "First on the seventh floor, then the first floor, then the ninth floor, and I've seen her on the third floor."
     "And all in the showers," Sylphiel said. The other three turned to face her. "I read it in the paper," Sylphiel said, a sweat drop on her head.
     A moment later a second gurney was wheeled out of the building, this one holding a young man with very tanned skin, a muscular body, and a small goatee. Alex clenched his fists when he saw this person, energy gathering around his fists.
     "Something wrong Alex?" Lina asked. A moment later she heard the whisper of an incantation.
     "Alex?" Zelgadis asked, a moment later catching the chanted words. "You're not going to... ?!"
     "Mister Alex?" Sylphiel asked before she also noticed the casting of the spell. She cast a protection spell around herself and her friends as Alex came close to completing the spell.
     "This is for Louis and the others who had their energy drained by the monster or whatever," Alex shouted, hurling his hands forward, "Gaav FLARE!!"
     An energy beam fired from Alex's fists, aimed at a small hill before the building. The beam, though, was stopped in mid flight and a very mysterious voice said, "What ever are you trying to do?"
     "That voice," Lina gasped.
     "Wasn't he left in the past?!" Zelgadis said in terror.
     "How did he get here?" Sylphiel asked.
     "Now that... is... a secret," the voice said.
     "It can't be... " Lina said as a man with shoulder length purple hair phased into space before them, Alex's Gaav Flare in hand. He was dressed in priest's clothing.
     "Xellos!" Zelgadis exclaimed, summoning an Elmekia Lance.
     "Stand down Zelgadis," Alex said, levitating and floating over to the trickster priest. "So, you're the infamous Xellos Metallium."
     Xellos stopped smiling and opened his eyes when Alex spoke his family name. "So you know that I am the brother of Beast master Xellas?"
     "Yup," Alex said, grinning, "I also know how Yaoi you can be."
 Xellos flushed crimson and Alex chuckled. "So, why are you here? Do you know something we don't?"
     "Yes," Xellos said, "but that.... "
     Alex summoned one of his death daggers, the blade glowing a faint violet. "You finish that sentence and I'll drain you faster than Liquid Plumber!"
     "Oh, all right. The monster works for Black X, and his current project is collecting enough energy to revive the angel of darkness."
     "Angel of darkness?" Aeris Gainsborough asked as she walked up beneath the two. Alex and Xellos both looked down, simultaneously getting a feeling of dread and an image of Aeris being impaled on a large sword. Aeris looked up and asked, "Now what's wrong?"
     "No... nothing," Alex and Xellos stammered, "nothing at all."
     "We got the whole story from the officer," Sylphiel shouted from the steps, "seems like he owed her a favor."
     "Yeah," Zelgadis said, chuckling, "Lina went on a date with him one night as a favor to Alyssa and Alison."
     "And those two are going to get an ear full from me," Lina exclaimed.
     "So, what's the story?" Alex asked, descending to ground level.
     "All the people were found in the showers drained of energy," Lina explained, "what's strange is that there were no signs of a struggle... "
     "Meaning it happened subtly," Zelgadis said, "like they weren't aware they were being drained until it was too late."
     "The shower curtain inside the shower, closest to the person, seemed a brighter color after the body was found," Sylphiel said.
     "Meaning we're dealing with a shape shifter," Alex said. The others nodded. "This is bloody unbelievable."
     "It gets worse," Lina said, "there is more than one shape shifter in the building."
     "And it'll be hard to decide where they will strike next," Zelgadis said.
     "Well, we should gather the others and arrange to take showers," Aeris said. Everyone looked at her like she had three heads.
     "Say WHAT?!" Lina exclaimed.
     "I think it's a plan," Xellos said, "if we all use the showers at the same time then we can effectively rule out places where the monster could be and at the same time, if we encounter it, we can blast it into submission."
     "Hey guys," a familiar voice called. Everyone turned to see Celia Briggs. Today she was dressed in tight jeans, a green mid-riff shirt, and a tight leather jacket. Her red - gold hair was pulled back in a long braid in a style like Aeris', a green scrunchie with gold trim holding it in place. "Wassup?"
     "Hey Celia," Zelgadis said, blushing when he laid eyes on her. He quickly regained his composure and said, "Have you heard the latest news?"
     "Yeah," Celia sighed, "that's a major bummer. You guys trying to come up with a plan?"
     "Yeah," Lina said, "Xellos here," she added, pointing to Xellos, "has a bit of an idea."
     "Actually it was Miss Aeris who had the idea," Sylphiel said in Lina's ear. Lina blushed at her mistake.
     "What's the plan?" Celia asked, leaning closer. Xellos and Zelgadis blushed simultaneously, picturing Celia in a towel. Alex passed each a tissue to tend their bleeding noses.
     Lina and Sylphiel explained the plan to Celia in a tag team fashion.

     "Come forth Droids Curtana and Curtis," an evil sounding voice called to the darkness. From the darkness came a young man and a young woman, both dressed in similar fashions with long capes or flowing robes made of vinyl.
     "You called us here master?" the woman, Curtana, asked.
     "Yes," the voice said, "how is your plan coming?"
     "It is coming fine," the man, Curtis, said. "We are gathering more than enough energy for the beginning of the resurrection process."
     "Good. Good. By the way Curtana, you have soap scum on your left cheek. And Curtis, you have hard water stains on your pants and in your hair."
     "We are terribly sorry my lord," the two droids said, "it's so difficult to stay clean in university showers."
     "Clean yourselves up and then go get more energy," the voice said. Once the two had left the voice cackled evilly.

     Later that day, around evening, a large group of people met, via microphones, in the 17 bathrooms of Alex's dormitory. The assorted Warriors, Slayers, and a large amount of Sailor Soldiers had been called in for this epic event.
     In the 3B men's room Alex, Zelgadis, Xellos, and Dennis all stood wrapped in towels of varying colors. Xellos looked at the three and blushed crimson.
     "Don't even think about it Mister Yaoi," Alex said, summoning a fireball. Zelgadis summoned an Elmekia Lance and Dennis summoned a Flare Lance.
     "No phasing into other showers Xellos," Zelgadis said, brandishing the astral lance, "or else."
     "Party pooper," Xellos sighed.
     "Especially not in mine!" Zelgadis growled, poking Xellos in the ribs with the tip of the lance.
     "Hey, any more of that and we'll have to make this a lemon fic," Dennis said.
     "We passed that stage a LONG time ago," Alex said, stepping into a nearby shower stall and closing the curtain behind him. Xellos began to phase into the same shower stall, but backed up when an Elmekia Lance phased through the wall and into his stomach.
     "We... hell," Xellos said, removing the energy lance and tossing it off to the side, "I guess I'll be showering... "
     "By yourself," three voices said as Dennis and Zelgadis stepped into two of the remaining showers, pulling the curtains closed behind them. Xellos sighed and stepped into the remaining shower and closed the curtain behind him. Soon the sound of running water filled the air.
     "Stay focused guys," Lina said over the microphones. Unfortunately everyone was too busy enjoying the running water to really stay focused.
     'This feels great,' Alex thought as he ran water through his hair, 'I should do this more... HEY!' he shouted in his mind as the shower curtain moved towards him and stuck to his leg. A moment later he noticed the color of the curtain changing as energy was drained from him.
     "Ok, no time to panic, only to overload the damn thing," he said, summoning all the energy he could into a single sphere, "FIREBALL!"
     The wall of the shower exploded outward as the curtain transformed into Curtana, who was ready to make her escape. Alex leapt from the shower, a dark green towel wrapped around his waist. Zelgadis, Xellos, and Dennis leapt from their showers a moment later, also clad in towels. When the three saw it was a female monster they were dealing with they blushed.
     "Lina, we found one of them," Dennis said as Alex cast Flow Break around Curtana. A moment later Curtana absorbed the energy from the Flow Break spell.
     "What are we dealing with?" Zelgadis asked as he cast a Burst Rondo at Curtana, who absorbed all the energy from the attack.
     "An energy absorbing storage battery," Alex said, casting the Rah Tilt. Blue white flames erupted around Curtana, but the flames dwindled a moment later and ultimately vanished.
     "We're here for you," Alyssa and Alison said, barging in through the right hand door. A moment later Tony Booth, Jack, and Jordan busted through the other door. All were clad in towels.
     "Keep focused!" Dennis said, wrapping Curtana up in his sting whip attack.
     "I told you we passed the lemon stage a while ago," Alex said, wrapping Curtana up in three chains of hearts, "the guys will drool over the girls and the girls will drool over the guys and nothing will get done!"
     "I can't wait to tell Master Black X that those he fears are stopped in their tracks by the sight of a lot of flesh," Curtana chuckled as she phased out.
     "Damnit, how are we going to find a way to track these things if it turns into a freaking flesh fest or orgy when ever we request backup?!" Zelgadis mumbled, looking at how Alison and Alyssa were getting Jack, Jordan, and Tony turned on and vice versa.
     "Alex, this is Sylphiel. We captured Curtis in the 10A showers," came over the radio.
     "Curtis?" Dennis and Alex asked.
     "The other one of the monsters," Amelia said.
     "So get some clothes on and get up here!" Lina shouted, "NOW!!"

     Ten minutes later Alex, Zelgadis, Dennis, Xellos, Tony, Jack, Jordan, Alison, and Alyssa met the others in the tenth floor ladies room. Curtis was being held in a double Flow Break being cast by Sylphiel and Celia. The four ladies were still clad in towels, and Lina threatened to fireball anybody who started to drool at the sight of pretty women clad in very little.
     "No more drooling," Celia said, "or else this fic will lose its PG rating and go straight to lemon."
     "It's ecchi enough as it is," Zelgadis sighed as he looked at the drooling Xellos, "does he really have to be here?"
     "As long as he doesn't do anything too Yaoi or Lemon we'll be fine," Tony said, covering his bare arms with his hands, "but he's giving off bad vibes and I'm getting goose bumps."
     "Ok mister, tell us what Black X's plan is," Lina said, forming a fireball.
     "Hit me with your best shot," Curtis said, grinning smugly.
     "Don't do it Miss Lina," Amelia said, "that's what he wants you to do."
     "Tell the lady what she wishes to know," Celia said, smiling, her fangs glistening, "or I'll drain you of your energy faster than light and return it to those you stole it from."
     "You.... you wouldn't," Curtis stammered, his color fading.
     "Don't tempt me to prove myself."
     Curtis took a deep breath and said, "Ok, Black X plans on using the energy drained from the humans to resurrect the dark angel."
     "Xellos told us that much," Alex sighed, "what we need to know is who the dark angel is."
     Curtis turned a sickly shade of white. He whispered one word: "Sephiroth." Those who heard the name shuddered from the pure evil sound of the name.
     "Sephiroth?!" Celia and Alex both exclaimed.
     "You know of this Sephi.... whatever his name is?" Lina asked.
     "He's pure evil," Alex said, "if he is resurrected he will summon METEOR to destroy the planet. At that point one of the ancients must travel to the lost city to summon HOLY."
     "He is also more powerful than any known dark lord," Celia said, "meaning he is major bad news."
     "Which means we must foil all of Black X's attempts to gain enough energy to fully resurrect Sephiroth," Lina said.
     "So what do we do with this guy?" Zelgadis asked, pointing to Curtis.
     "I say we flambé him," Jack said, summoning a Flare Lance.
     "We could freeze him," Tony said, summoning an Icicle Lance.
     "I think we should release him," Dennis said. Everyone turned to look at him as if he had three heads.
     "I agree with Master Dennis," Celia said, "this droid has grown incredibly pale since he heard the tale of Sephiroth."
     "My twin sister has yet to hear the tale and she is still convinced that reviving the dark angel is the best course of action," Curtis said, sighing.
     "Can you teleport us there?" Zelgadis asked.
     "I can try," Curtis said, "if the two lovely ladies would kindly release me and then get dressed and ready to go." Amelia and Sylphiel blushed before they released the Flow Break. The moment the spell was down Lina grabbed Curtis by the throat.
     "You even think of double crossing us and I'll Fireball you into next month!" she growled.
     "Why Miss Lina, your breasts have grown," Curtis said, a smile on his face. Lina blushed crimson, surprised by what the youma said to her. She giggled before releasing her death grip.
     "Ok crew, we shall prepare, then meet on the sun deck for the teleport," Lina said as she turned to leave the bathroom. As she stepped through the door she leapt into the air and shouted, "Oh YEAH!"
     "What did you say to Miss Lina?" Celia asked Curtis as she passed.
     "Something she's been wanting to hear for the longest time," Curtis replied, winking. Celia caught on, called Curtis a charmer, and ran off to get dressed. The other people in the bathroom sighed before they too went off to prepare.

     Ten minutes later the group met on the sun deck of Alex's building. The last time they met here was the trip to the arena. Joining them for this trip were Adderson, Tod, Darren, Aeris, Roxy, Derek, and Jason.
     "Are we all here?" Lina asked, brushing her fingers through her still damp hair.
     "I believe so," Tony said, adjusting his cape to cover his bare arms.
     "You still have goose bumps," Celia and Aeris said simultaneously, running their fingers down Tony's arms. Tony turned blue and shouted, "DON'T DO THAT!!"
     "I'm ready to lead you to Black X's base," Curtis said, "I just hope we don't run into my sister."
     "Are you leading men to my harem?" a scratchy female voice asked as Curtana phased in. The moment she materialized a rain of flare arrows, freeze arrows, fireballs, and Elmekia Lances sailed in her direction, all striking a barrier and being absorbed. The angry people quickly resorted to throwing rocks, which penetrated the barrier.
     "So dear brother... HEY!.... now you're consorting with... I told you to stop!.... these pesky.... ENOUGH!... humans," she said, breaking off to curse at the people whose aim was enough to actually hit her.
     "Kill the bitch!" Alex shouted, forming a Ragna Blade. The others began chanting, "Kill the bitch! Kill the bitch!"
     "How can you hang out with these stupid humans?" Curtana asked before another barrage of rocks and projectiles as well as a few gravity bubbles struck her. "I TOLD YOU TO STOP!"
     "They told me the tale of Sephiroth," Curtis said, "about how his resurrection will bring about trouble for the world."
     "That's right," Xellos said, floating up to Curtana's level, "If you allow Black X to revive the dark angel then we are all screwed."
     "It's too late," Curtana said, her face falling, her had drooping, "Black X sent me to stall you while he performed the resurrection ceremony."
     Gasps came from everyone on the ground when they heard this.
     "How long does the ceremony take?" Lina asked, floating up to Xellos and Curtana.
     "He said he would need about an hour to complete the ceremony," Curtana said, "but it'll be impossible to teleport to him directly. Neither Curtis nor myself have seen the room, so we wouldn't know where to teleport to."
     "How long ago did you leave Black X?" Alex asked, floating up to join the other three.
     "It took me ten minutes to teleport through all the different levels of sub - space. Black X had barriers set up so that it wouldn't be easy for outsiders or those with low security clearance to get back in."
     "Which adds up to a big pain in the butt," Lina said, "But with a combined teleport I bet we could easily bust through to the base with a minimum of difficulty."
     "Who are our strongest teleporters?" Xellos asked rhetorically, since several fingers immediately pointed at him.
     "Xellos is our first," Zelgadis said, "and Alex can disrupt sub space and phase between rather easily. Curtis and Curtana are also skilled in teleporting, so that makes four."
     "Five and six," Adderson said, indicating Tony and himself.
     "Seven," Derek said, indicating himself.
     "Do we really need that much power?" Sylphiel asked.
     "It's going to take all that we've got to bust through those barriers," Lina said as she descended. The other three followed in suite a moment later. The group then prepared to teleport by aligning the seven to cast a 'bubble' of energy around the group. Alex read the coordinates from Curtis' and Curtana's minds and relayed them to the others before they initiated the teleport. A moment later the universe yawned, sucking the group into sub space.

     Moments later, in the Black X throne room the universe burped as a group of slightly dazed and confused adventurers was spit forth from sub space. The group landed in a pile on top of one person, who said, "Thank you." when the combined weight landed on him.
     "Stupid yaoi pain loving mazoku," Zelgadis said, driving his knee harder into Xellos' stomach.
     "Why Zelgadis, I didn't know you cared," Xellos said.
     "I don't," Zelgadis said, punting Xellos through the air like a football.
     "Can we just get along this one time without somebody being dismembered?" Sylphiel asked. Everyone turned upon her, their eyes glowing. "Ok, never mind."
     "We're now in the throne room," Curtis said, clapping his hands. The lights came on a moment later, shining some light into the darkness.
     "Freaky," Roxy said, brushing her magenta bangs back as she looked around, "this guy must have a dead guy as a decorator."
     "Which way is it to the room where the resurrection is being held?" Lina asked, drawing her sword.
     "I don't know," Curtana said, "though I did see Lord Black X go into a room hidden behind the throne."
     Lina turned to look at the throne before shouting, "Damu Bras!" and hurling an energy sphere at the throne. The sphere connected, exploded, and reduced the throne to rubble in a matter of seconds. "That's one problem down," she said, clapping imaginary dust from her hands. The dust cleared from the explosion site a moment later, a dark doorway opening to them like a mouth to the unknown.
     "That's even creepier," Aeris said, hiding behind Alex and Tony.
     "I believe that is where we have to go," Dennis said, taking a flashlight from his belt and flicking it on. The powerful beam cut through the darkness, revealing a long passageway.
     "Should we pair up when we go down this hall?" Amelia asked, wrapping her arms around Zelgadis' right arm.
     "We probably should," Lina said, grabbing Jordan's arm, "lead on, oh brave warrior."
     The others looked at each other, then at the still drooling and smiling Xellos before saying, "I'm not going with the fruit!"
     "Someone does," Alex said, taking Celia's hand. The others quickly paired off until only Xellos and Tony remained.
     "I do NOT want to be with the fruit," Tony said, wrapping his arms up in his cape, "I'm afraid he's going to do something horrible and nasty to me."
     "Don't let him cook you dinner," Zelgadis called back as he and Amelia entered the hallway, "you'll live to regret it."
     "Shall we get on our way Master Tony?" Xellos asked, taking Tony's hand. A moment later several Holy Lances were sticking out of Xellos' chest.
     "Don't ever do that again you hentai, yaoi, lemon, fruitcake mazoku!" Tony shouted before driving three more Holy Lances into Xellos.
     "Why, thank you," Xellos said, smiling, "that feels great."
     Tony grumbled something under his breath before Xellos was caught up in a wave of lava. Tony then cast a light spell before running off to catch up with the others.
     "I didn't see that one coming," Xellos said, exhaling smoke before he wandered off. "I wonder what else is in this base."

     "Powers of darkness, come to me now, heed my call in my quest to resurrect the dark angel!"
 Energy sparked around a large, translucent coffin in the center of the room. The coffin's back glowed, illuminating a well build male body. The man's silver - white hair was spread out behind him in his dreamless slumber. Black X laughed maniacally as the man's eyes snapped open, the white parts of the eyes glowing crystal blue.
     "It's alive!" Black X exclaimed, laughing maniacally a - la Dr. Frankenstein. A nearby computer read out told him that Sephiroth was only 35% resurrected. Black X cursed under his breath as he upped the power distribution to the coffin.
     "It won't be alive for long," a voice said moments before a fireball struck the ground next to Black X. Black X turned to see Lina Inverse, Alex, Zelgadis, Tony, and Sylphiel outlined by the fire light. A moment later a gravity bubble whizzed by his head, striking a nearby panel and crushing it. Black X turned to see Roxy, Adderson, and the remaining people, including Aeris and Celia, who had changed into a set of female armor a piece, yet they retained their weapons.
     "Stop right there Black X," Curtis said, hurling an Elmekia Lance at his former leader. A moment later Curtis was torn apart by a blast of dark energy.
     "Brother!" Curtana screamed as Curtis was ripped apart by Black X. She fired off a Burst Rondo, which missed Black X, but struck many of the computer terminals, destroying them. The coffin popped open a moment later, dumping Sephiroth's body out and down a set of stairs.
     "You fool!" Black X shouted, hurling a force wave at Curtana. The wave caught Curtana in the left shoulder, disintegrating her left arm.
     "You're the fool," Celia shouted, hurling several enchanted knives at Black X, all of which struck a force wall and disintegrated. "Sephiroth is going to destroy the planet if he is resurrected!"
     Black X paled a little bit before he turned red and blasted Curtana with a Dragon Slave, destroying her instantly.
     "You.... how can you destroy your own people?!" Sylphiel asked, tears filling her eyes.
     "Now is not the time for tears," Lina said, "we have to deal with Black X and Sephiroth."
     "Seph is more of less out of it," Tony said, casting a Flow Break around the fallen angel, "So we just need to deal with Black X."
     As Tony said that Black X sank into the floor, a large glass dome closing over his head. A moment later a giant mecha erupted from the floor, standing ten times taller than their tallest warrior (a 60 foot tall mecha).
     "Holy crap!" Amelia said, staring up at the giant mecha, "Mister Zelgadis, what are we going to do?"
     "I'll tell you what we're going to do," Xellos' voice said from inside the mecha. A moment later the armor plating fell away from the body, revealing the insides and the trickster priest.
     "The fruitcake did something right," Derek sighed, "who would have known?"
     "Hit it before the armor regenerates," Xellos said, the smile fading form his face as he took on a serious composure.
     "We hit it with a Storm Striker," Alex said, "Lina and Amelia know the spell, and I heard that Sylphiel knows it also."
     "I've learned the spell from Amelia," Zelgadis said, "and I think Tony learned it from Sylphiel."
     "Star positions," Lina said as she and the other five moved into positions, forming the star points for a magic circle. Once in position the six began chanting the spell.
     "Never underestimate the destructive power of nature, for what may be beautiful one minute can be destructive the next. I summon forth the powers of thunder and lightning, wind and rain, to strike down all those who oppose me. Goddess of the sky deliver your smiting blow."
     The usual aqua spheres formed, only to fizzle a moment later as a magic jamming field was activated around the mecha, canceling any magic spells in the area, including Tony's Flow Break, which freed Sephiroth, who began to regain consciousness as the magical overflow was absorbed into his body.
     "Shit!" Celia cursed as she noticed Sephiroth being revived, "now we have two problems!"
     "What will destroy the mecha?" Tod asked, lashing his whip about and hurling off multiple energy stars, which cut into the barrier and broke through.
     "We're idiots," the other warriors said as they produced their weapons.