Subject: [FFML][ORIG][MAGICAL GIRLS] Sailor Begin 4
From: "A-kun McCrillis" <akun15@hotmail.com>
Date: 1/14/1999, 9:07 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

	I leaned back.  This was going to be difficult.  The main bad guy 
usually results in an 'All-or-nothing' battle.  But this guy didn't seem 
like an 'All-or-nothing' sort of person.	 He was more calculating than 
that.  He knew what to expect and when to flee.
	He's going to attack when I'm not ready and when I won't be up to 
speed.  Shite.  This means he'll be after my friends.  I've got to be on 
my guard.  Be on the look for any 'new transfer students' or 
'accidents'.
	I was definitely not prepared for what would eventually happen.  
Looking back now, I should've expected it.

	It was during the middle of school.  An explosion from one of the Chem 
labs.  I knew it had to be him.  There wasn't anything really explosive 
in that lab.
	Then, it hit me.  The gas taps might have been left on.  That might do 
it, if left alone long enough and someone tried to light a bunsen 
burner.  But I felt that it was more likely that it was my nemesis.
	And when the rooms neighboring the Chem lab went up.  Definitely not a 
gas tap.  Otherwise, the gas main would've gone up and so would the 
school and the next few blocks.
	The teachers weren't stupid.  We were told to evacuate.  In the 
confusion and panic, I remained behind.  This guy wanted me and he was 
going to destroy the school if I didn't do something.
	Not bad until you realize two things.  One, you or your parents are 
going to be paying for the damages via taxes and two, you'll be going to 
_different_ schools until either the school is rebuilt or you complete 
high school in said soon-to-be-over-cramped neighboring high schools.
	I shifted into Sailor Overdrive form when I sure that no one could see 
me and raced up one floor and over to the science section where the Chem 
Lab was.  Sure enough, the head-baddie himself was there.
	He looked normal enough, if you thought that skeletal wings, 
ebony-white armor, deep skin, light-grey curling horns and a 
muscle-packed body were normal.  Then again, I don't really know you so 
I wouldn't know if that's true for you or not.  His eyes were (surprise, 
surprise) white with a bluish-silver pupil.
	Fires raged behind him, giving him that perfect demonic look.  I was 
ready to attack, but didn't dare.  I'd leave myself wide open.  We stood 
there, I was tense, ready for anything.  He stood there, ready for 
nothing.  Finally, he began striding forward.
	"OVERDRIVE-" I began, lunging forward, hoping to catch him flatfoot.
	No such luck.  All I could see was a blur and I was on my back about 
fifteen feet away.  I clutched my stomach.  Gods, it hurt.  I staggered 
to my feet.  No way was this sucker going down easily.
	Okay, so maybe I was leaving myself open by declaring my attack.  No 
need to be dramatic.  Just win, I reminded myself.  With new fury, I 
used my Overdrive Knockout and he stumbled forward, just in time to 
catch my Overdrive Hyperkick to the stomach and an Overdrive Maximum 
Double Hammerfist to the back of the skull.
	He fell on his face, but snapped his legs up around my neck and threw 
me headfirst to the ground.  He could kill me!  Shite!  I was so 
desperate to stay alive that I did the only thing I could.
	I bit his leg.
	Hard.
	Drew blood.
	He howled in pain and released his leg lock around my neck.  I 
scrambled to my feet as did he.
	"You whelp!  How dare you bite me?!!" He bellowed.
	"Bite me.  Or should I say, 'Bite YOU'?" I joked, spitting.  His leg 
tasted awful.
	"GRRRRR-RAAAAAAAH!" He roared, lunging.
	Crap.  The next thing I knew, he was hammering me pretty heavily.  I 
just prayed that I could withstand this beating.  Then, I noticed that 
he was using his upper body only.  I performed a nice leg sweep and 
caught him flatfooted.  He went down.  Hard.
	I felt something building in me.  A new power.  I was due for an minor 
upgrade.
	"OVERDRIVE DESTROYER!" I roared, summoning my strength.
	A good sized beam of destruction flew from my hands.  There was just 
one problem.  He wasn't there to receive it.
	"DAMMIT!" I growled, looking at him, now crouching a few feet away.
	"MAX-OUT FLYING ELBOW SMASH!!!" came a new voice.
	Neither of us could even blink before he was hit by a flying elbow to 
the forehead and was sent flying back a good twenty feet.  I also took 
note that the fires were out.  Hmmmm....  He staggered to his feet.
	"So you were hiding an ally, eh?  Well played.  You've defeated the 
Demon Ilma'hx." he declared before collapsing dead on the carpet.
	Well, he could've told me before, so I could stop referring to him as 
'him'.  Ah, he was probably going to pummel the snot out of me, tell me 
his name, then torture me by telling me his plan, _THEN_ tell me how 
helpless I was to stop it.
	I looked at the girl who had saved me.  Uh-oh.  It was definitely Kate.  
Same hairstyle, same hair color, same eye color, same height, etc.  The 
outfit threw me a bit as I never pictured her in a Sailor suit.  Wait a 
minute, she was going to be a heroine like me?  Not good.  And she.... 
*GULP* is obsessed with me.  DEFINITELY not good.
	"At last!" Kate squealed with delight as she hurried over to me, 
smiling as brightly as the sun.
	"Oh, hi." I said lamely.
	She smiled at me, then put her arms around my neck.
	"I've been waiting a while to return this to you." she said, before 
kissing me quite firmly.
	It was nice, but I already had my own tongue occupying my mouth and I 
didn't need hers.  I managed to separate us, but what could I say?  All 
I could come up with was a line like "I can't risk giving my heart to 
someone because they might die." or something like that, which would 
send her into a funk that I, as a guy, would have to hear about and she 
might be so distracted that if she were to take on a monster that she'd 
assuredly die.
	Of course, Kate took this as a different signal.  She must've heard the 
feet closing in and came to a decision.
	"Come on, we gotta get outta here before the reporters and police 
come." she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me off.
	I didn't really pay much attention to where we were going.  All I knew 
was that I shouldn't get into a relationship with Kate or she might find 
out my secret, then she'd hate me in both forms for deceiving her.  Or 
worse, if she got hurt or died, I'd never forgive myself.  Ye gods, I 
should've told her from the beginning.
	She stopped and looked around.  I noticed that we were in the middle of 
a forest.  What we were doing here wasn't clear, but it probably meant 
Kate was up to something.  Satisfied that no one was around, she turned 
back to me.
	"Oh, Overdrive, I've been meaning to tell you how I feel for a long 
time..." she began.
	"I know how much you feel for me and believe me, I feel the same way.  
I shouldn't have kissed you..." I said, struggling to tell her what I 
did not really know.  How I felt about her.
	Kate paled a bit and looked a lot like a kicked puppy.  I hate this 
hero gig.
	"Not because I didn't enjoy it," I added, quickly, "Or that I don't 
like you, but I.... you've got to understand that what I do is something 
that I do because the world needs a hero or a heroine.  Whether it's a 
person who's compassionate or someone who's a leader, it needs someone 
like me.  But it's dangerous."
	She looked at me, confused and hurt.  This was what I had been trying 
to avoid.
	"I do like you and that first night, I felt something, I really did.  
But I can't....... I won't allow you to get killed needlessly trying to 
do something that I should've done." I said, doing something that I'd 
never do.
	I took up a fighting stance against my oldest friends.
	"I can't believe this!  You'd fight me?!" Kate asked, backing up.
	I didn't reply.  Kate looked at me, then, as tears filled her eyes, she 
detransformed and threw her pen at me.  She yelled, "I HATE YOU!!!" and 
ran away.
	I couldn't believe it myself.  But it was for the best, I tried to 
rationalize as I picked up her pen.  But what if I needed her?  I tried 
to wipe the tears out my eyes, but they kept coming.  I wished I had 
never taken my own pen.  Leading a double life sucks.  It alone ends in 
misery for you and everyone who tries to get close to you.
	We should go after her, one part of me said.
	We should leave her alone, another said.
	We can make up with her, the first part said.
	Why would you want to do that?  Do you love her? asked the second part.
	My heart struggled.  I felt torn between the duty of protecting 
everyone around me and my desire to follow Kate and maybe find something 
worth living for.
	Being a superheroine was a lonely world.  You need friends on both 
sides of the fence or you begin to think more as a self-appointed 
guardian of the world rather than a human being.
	I made my choice.

	I found her about six minutes later.  From the looks of it, she was 
headed to Cynthia's house.  I leapt in front of her.  She stopped and 
looked at me through tear-filled eyes.  I tried to compose myself.
	"Kate, wait a minute." I began.
	Her eyes widened and she suddenly grabbed me.  What was she doing?
	"Ben?" Kate asked.
	WHA- UH-OH!
	"Um, it's not what you think!" I babbled out before realizing that I 
could've lied my way out, but realized this was probably for the best.  
Besides, I was tired of lying at the moment.
	Kate just looked at me, wiping the stray tear away.
	"It's not like I wanted this to happen, Kate." I began.
	"Was it a joke?" she asked.
	"No.  At first, I just thought of a way to escape since I knew you 
liked me like this.  Then, the more I thought about it, the more 
confused I got." I said, turning away.
	"Confused?" Kate inquired, turning me to face her.
	I didn't reply.
	"You.... you liked it, didn't you?  You liked kissing me." Kate began.
	She hit a nerve.  I couldn't look at her, so I looked at the ground.
	"I tried to figure things out.  I hoped that if I stayed away, you'd 
just find someone else.  Then, when I saw that you weren't going to just 
give up, I promised myself that I'd just do my best to protect you guys 
and hope that I'd be able to figure it out." I explained as best as I 
could.  One really can't excuse the bad logic that one uses while 
thinking of romance.
	"So, have you?" Kate asked, her face neutral.
	"No.  Not completely." I answered truthfully.
	She pulled me close and kissed me.
	"When you figure things out, tell me." Kate said.
	I nodded, "I will."
	She turned to leave, but I grabbed her hand and put her transformation 
pen back into it.  She looked at me with confusion.
	"You might need this, Sailor Max-Out." I said, smiling.
	She hugged me, catching me off-guard.  She continued on her way to 
Cynthia's place and I leave.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Not much to say at the end of this chapter.  Aw well, if you liked it, 
say so!  Reply at akun15@hotmail.com

	What to Expect!:
- ANOTHER NEW SAILOR.... WILL be introduced!
- Another chief bad guy shows up!
- A big battle!
- And Sailor Overdrive gets a more than friendly kiss from someone 
else!!

	A-kun, signing off.



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