Hi!
Well, it's been a few frantic days up here, but I finally got my second
chapter finished. So without further ado, awaaaaaaay we go! As always, any
and all C&C is accepted.
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of these guys are mine. The Sailor
Senshi belong to DIC and Kodansha, while the Yoroiden are owned by
Sunrise and Graz Entertainment. Okay? So don't bother suing me.
RONIN SUMMER 2 : HOMECOMINGS
A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
Part 2 : Up In The Air
Imagine, if you will, waking up blind. Imagine in addition
waking up deaf, mute, and with neither arms nor legs. Imagine this,
and you may understand a portion of how Seiji Date felt when he opened
his eyes in the morning.
Korin was gone. The night before, a group of technological
monsters had stolen from him the mystic yoroi crystal that made him
the Yoroiden of Korin, the Ronin of Halo. The night before he had lost
something that was such a part of him that he didn't want to ever
wake up again. Every sight seemed dimmer, sounds muted, feelings
dulled. His power and his soul had been stolen from him : to die would
be a blessing.
Minako Aino looked over at the young man. He was sweating, and
his blond hair was even more tousled than usual. He had slept all
night, and he didn't look like he had known a second's rest. She
stood, and smoothed her short orange skirt with both gloved hands.
"Good morning, Seiji Date."
The young man sighed and rolled over, squeezing his eyes shut
and fighting back the tears. "Go away," he croaked, "leave me alone."
Sailor Venus nodded sadly. "I understand, Seiji..."
"You DON'T. You couldn't POSSIBLY understand!" Seiji grabbed a
pillow and hurled it at her. "GET OUT!"
Minako got out.
**********
The sun was just beginning to rise as Minako shuffled down the
hall to her own room. At the door, she gave up and leaned against the
wall crying into her hands.
"Minako, dear? It's a trifle early in the morning for such a
sad face." Seiji's mother, as prim and proper as ever in a black silk
kimono with rampant green dragons, looked calmly down at the crying
girl. If she seemed at all surprised to see Minako in the uniform of
Sailor Venus, it didn't show. "Come, dear. Come to breakfast and tell
us all about it."
"It's about... your son. Seiji's... he's hurt, Mrs. Date. Very
badly hurt." Minako watched guiltily as the older woman's face
collapsed.
"My little Sei-chan? What happened?"
**********
Seiji opened his eyes again and groaned. Now his whole FAMILY
had gathered around his bed. Mother was crying, Yayoi wasn't cackling
maniacally, which was as close as she could GET to crying, Grandfather
was looking as stoic as ever, and Satsuke was too busy idolizing
Sailor V to be too concerned with something as unimportant as her
brother's existence.
Grandfather Date looked down at his bedridden heir. Already
the boy looked like he was fading away. "Leave us," he commanded his
family, and they quietly left. After the door closed behind them, he
turned and faced Seiji. "What the hell is wrong with you, son?"
"They took Korin..."
"Oh, they took Korin!You listen to me, boy, and you had better
listen well. Korin is a suit of armour. What have I told you about the
code of samurai?"
"A samurai is defined not by the edge of his weapons, but by
the depths of his soul." Seiji sighed. "But you don't understand!
Without Korin, I'm powerless! I can't fight, I can't do ANYTHING! I'm
nothing without my yoroi!"
"Nothing?" The old man snorted. "Was it Korin that won all of
those awards downstairs? Was Korin the captain of its school's kendo
club five years running? Does Korin make your little sister's face
light up with joy? Does that fine girl out in that hallway love Seiji
no Korin, or Seiji Date?"
"I don't know. I DON'T KNOW!" Seiji tried to roll over, and
his grandfather threw him out of bed.
"You DO know! And you're giving up! I trained you better than
that, boy! You NEVER give up! The Date are not quitters, and we never
have been! So some villain took your armour? Well, what are YOU going
to do about it? Are you going to quit, or are you going to go get it
back?"
Seiji lay on the floor and glared at the man who had raised
him. Snarling, he lunged off of the floor and swung at the old man,
who laughed and brushed aside his swings as effortlessly as ever.
"THAT, my son, is Seiji Date talking! Never forget that! You
are a samurai, armour or no armour, and a samurai NEVER stops
fighting!" Grandfather smiled, and clapped his student on the back.
"Now get dressed, and let's get back your armour!"
**********
Usagi Tsukino yawned and stretched. Where was she? She knew
she wasn't in her own room, and that concerned her a little. There was
a giant aquarium taking up most of the far wall, and the room was
filled with books on oceanography, posters of dolphins, whales, and
sharks, and, oddly enough, pottery. There was also a massive pile of
clothes in the corner preparing a hostile takeover of the floor.
She sat up in the water bed, and waited to stop rocking.
Someone on the floor was snoring gently, and when she peered over the
edge of the bed, she saw a young man with shoulder length brown hair
passed out on the carpet. There was a blanket half-covering him, and
he was wearing what looked like a diver's wetsuit. Come to think of
it, she thought, those were SCUBA tanks propped against the closet
door...
"Don't mind Shin. He was up all night getting ready for his
new job." Another boy, his short blue hair tucked up under a green
headband, leaned in through the doorway and put a finger to his lips.
"Poor guy got work instructing a SCUBA class at the local gym. He was
up checking gear and reading manuals until four this morning."
"Touma? What happened?"
Touma Hashiba chuckled at Usagi's confusion. "We were watching
a movie, and you passed out. I figured I may as well toss you in here
instead of letting you crash on the couch and get a stiff neck." He
smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "It was SUPPOSED to
just be for a few seconds, but I fell asleep too... didn't get up
until four, when Shin asked why Sailor Moon was in his bed. By then it
was too late to get you home anyway, so I figured, why wake you?"
"Well, what time is it now?"
Touma checked his watch. "It's still pretty early... only
about noon, I'd say."
"Oh NO! My parents are going to KILL me!" Usagi leapt out of
the waterbed, lost her balance, and stepped squarely on Shin Mouri's
stomach. The boy grunted, rolled over, and started snoring again.
"Why don't you just tell your parents you were out patrolling
for youma or something? I mean, Sailor Moon must pull all kinds of
late nights, right?"
"My parents don't KNOW I'm Sailor Moon, Touma!" Suddenly,
Usagi screeched to a halt and backpedalled back into the room. "Wait a
minute... do your parents know you're... you know... a Yoroiden?"
Touma shrugged as they left the apartment. "My parents barely
even know I'm alive. I haven't been back to Osaka in over a year, and
I doubt Dad has noticed I'm gone yet. If it doesn't have wires, diodes,
or chemicals, my pop doesn't really pay much attention to it."
"Wow, that's really sad..." Usagi sniffed and dried her eye on
one sleeve. How horrible for him! So alone...
Touma shrugged again, a bit more uncomfortably. Why was he
talking so much? He'd never even told the other Yoroiden about this!
"It's not so bad. When my Mom's around, she's pretty cool, and I've
got the Yoroiden now. I'm staying here with Shin for the summer..."
"Follow me." Usagi grabbed Touma's sleeve and began tugging
in the opposite direction the second they hit the street.
"I thought your house was THAT way, Usagi..."
"It IS! But since I'm already in trouble, we may as well go
get some lunch, right?"
"Lunch?" Touma tried feebly to recover his sleeve, and finally
surrendered. "But... but I don't have any money!"
Usagi giggled. "Silly! We're not going to PAY!"
**********
Rei groaned and stretched her back. Nearby, Chad was equally
exhausted, and Grandfather lay panting on the stairs. Sadly, not
even Shinto Temples rebuilt themselves... after the demon known only as
The Dark One had sent his entire army of youma to attack the Senshi
and Yoroiden last month, most of the temple had been reduced to rubble
and burnt timbers.
A pair of crows landed on Rei's shoulders, and began sqwauking
at her. "Oh shut up, Deimos. You too, Phoebus. We'll finish when we
finish, and all your complaining isn't going to make it go any faster."
"I wish I could help, Rei, but my nursemaid refuses to let me
lift a finger." Mamoru Chiba, still pale and sickly looking, leaned
heavily against the open doors of the temple and squinted as he
looked up at the sun. "Hmmm... never thought I'd be so happy to see
the sun again. Of course, for a while there I didn't think I was ever
going to see the sun, period." Reaching into his jacket pocket, he
winked at the girl and produced a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Once
he had slipped them on, he lowered himself into a sitting position
next to her on the steps.
"I still wish I could have helped you guys against The Dark
One. Guess it served me right, letting Naara get through my defenses
so easily..."
Rei shook back her waist length black hair, startling the two
ravens, and smiled sweetly at Mamoru. "Well, maybe Tuxedo Kamen was
out of the picture, but I think Usagi and Makoto would argue that the
Desert Knight was a lot of help in the last battle."
From the shadows of the temple, another figure emerged. Clad
entirely in black and brown armour, his red cape flaring in the
breeze as the sunlight glinted off of the many blades and spikes of
his yoroi, he grinned. "As for Naara, Mamoru Chiba, he has a talent
for striking under an opponent's guard. Even a cheap copy would have
been more than skilled enough to handle you."
"Thanks for the vote of support, Anubis. You're a lot of fun
to be around, did you know that?" Mamoru sighed and stood up. "Is it
time for our practice already?"
"Yes... I thought perhaps we would train outside today. The
fresh air will do us both good. But first..." Anubis smiled again, a
bit less viciously this time, and his armour flamed into a ball of
energy and dissapated. "No unfair advantages, eh?"
Mamoru returned the smile and pulled a rose from his inside
pocket. "Of course not," he conceded, and tossed the flower away.
**********
Touma tried not to be greedy, but with Usagi gobbling away
beside him, he gave up pretenses and began his fifth course of
okonomiyaki. It was delicious, and he was glad for it : with two guys
living alone and never being in the same place at the same time, he
had begun to forget what real food tasted like!
"Woah! Slow down, you two!" Makoto Kino laughed as she watched
her unexpected lunch guests shoveling food like there was tomorrow :
she had never thought it would be possible, but someone actually
COULD eat as much as Usagi! "There won't be any room for dessert!"
"There's ALWAYS room for dessert!" the two teens chorused, and
Makoto grinned. Touma was a lot like Usagi, she noticed : nice, and
kind and funny. He was a lot like Ami, too, she decided : so smart and
shy and gentle. He was serious and calm like Rei, and kind of cute, if
you overlooked the blue hair... he was nothing at all like her old
sempai, but maybe - just MAYBE - she liked him anyway.
Touma, of course, already liked Makoto. She was smart, pretty,
and good-looking. She was of the female persuasion, seemed nice, and
most important of all, she had given him food. Teenaged boys will
always unconditionally love anyone who feeds them : they're a little
like puppies that way.
Usagi chuckled to herself as she dug into her chocolate
parfait. Another brilliant plan successfully accomplished by Usagi
Tsukino, match maker supreme! Please, she thought, hold your
applause... you're all too kind... just name your kids after me...
**********
Genichirou Hashiba muttered to himself as he tinkered on the
prototype XR-71 Law Enforcement model Cyberdroid. The panel in the
chest was open, and occasionally he would poke at some circuits with
a soldering iron. Clearly though, his mind was elsewhere.
"Such power in a single gem... but how? Perhaps some form of
alien artifact? A data storage unit containing information as pure
light, perhaps... yes! The facets of the gem would give it a
surprisingly large amount of information storage area! No, wait... it's
a sphere. Well, it obviously has SOME kind of scientific explanation.
The kanji could be some strange effect of the light : a phosphorescent
agent embedded in the stone, perchance..." Sitting back, the scientist
stroked his beard and considered his lot in life. A few months ago, he
had been a simple astronomy professor in Kyoto, and now he was the
head of Reaearch and Development for Mr. Xavier's entire corporation!
His true love was physics and astronomy, of course, but he had a
brilliant young son who was going to need money for university, and
Harvard wasn't cheap...
Now, through sheer chance, his employer had dropped the
scientific find of the century right in his lap! Imagine : a strange
green stone of unknown origin. It's prior owner had demonstrated
amazing abilities, many of which were traced back to the stone.
Heightened speed and strength, energy projection, even some strange
form of metamorphosis! Such devices were well beyond the reach of even
today's technology, and yet the gem gave every indication of being
thousands of years old!
Perhaps this would be his chance to finally prove that life
had once existed on other planets! The stone matched nothing in the
periodic table of elements, and its atomic structure defied all
description : if he could prove that it was an extraterrestrial
artifact, then the stodgey old coots of the science community would
have to admit that his theories were right, and that ancient, highly
advanced civilizations had once lived on other planets in the Solar
System... maybe even on the Moon, itself! And then, he admitted, it
might just be Genichirou Hashiba's time in the spotlight. Nobel Prizes,
government grants, overseas contracts, and of course little Touma
would gladly join him in his research...
That, he thought, would be heaven indeed. Just Touma and
himself, exploring the universe for the sheer joy of exploration! Just
like in the old days, before things went bad between his wife and him.
They used to go on stargazing trips for weeks on end, and Touma's eyes
had lit up as his father shared the secrets of the universe with him.
Ah, Touma... he had always loved the sky so much. His mother used to
joke that he would live there, if he could, and he would stare back
with those big dark eyes of his, and nod so eagerly.
Genichirou turned from his work and walked over to his desk.
Where had he put that thing? AH! Here, under a pile of his latest test
results on the stress levels of XR-71's armour plating... a small and
faded old photograph of a blue-haired toddler reading a high-school
Calculus text. Little Touma. His genius son, off... well, wherever he
was at the moment... doing... well, whatever it was he liked to do.
**********
"Wow, Makoto! That was great as usual. She sure is a great
cook, isn't she, Touma?" Usagi stood and quickly wiped her mouth with
one sleeve. "Well, I'm outie! Help Makoto with the dishes, would you,
Touma?"
"But I -"
"Thanks! See ya!" SLAM. Touma froze halfway to his feet, and
hung his head in shame. He had the vague feeling he was getting used,
somehow...
Makoto kneeled beside him. "Sorry about that, Touma. Usagi's
a great friend, but she can be a little... flighty, at times."
"I am beginning," he said dryly, "to notice that."
"Listen, if you have anything planned, you don't have to help
me clean up. Really, it's okay!"
Touma shook his head and began gathering up the dishes. "No,
I don't have anything better to do... Seiji's in Sendai, and Ryo's in
class, and Shin's probably still sleeping, so my day's pretty much
free." Standing, he handed the load of plates and bowls to Makoto.
"Yep," he said, "I have nothing to do all date..." He paused, and
corrected himself. "Day, I mean. Nothing to do all DAY."
Makoto blushed, and they stood there in an uncomfortable
silence for a while. "Listen," they suddenly chorused, "sinceyou'renot
doinganythingmaybewecouldgooutorsomethin..."
Makoto chuckled. "You first, Touma."
"I... uhm, I was just thinking that maybe if you had nothing
to do... and I had nothing to do... maybe I could do it with you."
Touma winced. "I mean, we could do it together! I mean... DAMN!"
Closing his eyes, he began banging his head against the wall. Way to
blow it, Touma Hashiba, he thought to himself. "Okay," he said calmly,
"now that I've made a total ass out of myself, do you want to go to a
movie or something?"
Makoto Kino shrugged. At the very least, the boy deserved an
'A' for effort... and he was kind of cute when he was so embarassed
and miserable. "Sure!"
**********
The afternoon matinee had been a Jackie Chan movie called
"Supercop", and Makoto had loved every second of it. In fact, her
constant cheering and shouted suggestions to the screen had gotten one
of the ushers to come and try to make her calm down. After she slugged
him, they got kicked out. Touma was still picking popcorn out of his
hair as they wandered aimlessly down the street.
"Well, that was interesting. I thought Ryo and Shuu were the
only people who did things like that..."
"Yeah, wasn't it GREAT?" Makoto was clearly ecstatic. "I don't
think I've EVER seen the end of a Jackie Chan movie YET!"
"Oh? Well, let me fill you in." Touma smiled. "The hero beats
up the bad guy and gets the girl."
"Really? And do you know that from PERSONAL experience, Mr.
Yoroiden Samurai Trooper?" Makoto poked him in the chest with one
finger.
"Well," Touma acted thoughtful, "now that you mention it, I
HAVE beaten a few bad guys myself..."
Makoto chuckled and grabbed him by the shirt. "Then maybe it's
time," she whispered, "you got the girl." Touma tried to answer to
that, but only managed to sputter some noises that really bore no
resemblance to actual words as Makoto laughed at him and let go.
"Kidding! Man, you need to lighten up a little, Touma!"
"Lighten UP? You nearly gave me a coronary! I'm having a
cardiac infraction over here!" Touma tried to straighten his now badly
crumpled and wrinkled shirt.
Makoto looked from side to side. They had slipped into a side
alley... perfect. "Hey, Touma! I need to let off some steam. What do
you say to a little sparring match?" She smirked and pulled her wand
from the pocket of her dress. "JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"What do I say?" Touma granted her with the lopsided grin
that usually made everybody nearby want to smack him on general
principle. "I say... BUSSO, TENKU!"
**********
One of the many assistants working under Doctor Hashiba burst
into his work area with a hand full of paperwork. "SIR! Our sensors
just picked up a major burst of energy in the middle of downtown
Tokyo! It matches the energy signature of the gem we took last night!"
"Another one?" Genichirou tried to hide his surprise. Amazing!
The odds of even one such crystal existing for study was astronomical,
but two? Why, this would make testing even easier! "Send the XR-71
prototypes after it, immediately!"
**********
About an hour later, Touma laughed triumphantly and pinned
Sailor Jupiter to the roof of the building they were on. Smoking
craters and broken tiles marked the path of their battle across the
skyline of Tokyo, and both were breathing heavily.
"You know something, Jupiter? You are one macho jock chick."
Touma grinned impishly as his intricate steel face mask retracted up
into his helmet. "A real kawaiikune tomboy, you are." The soft tone of
his voice managed to take the sting out of his words as Sailor Jupiter
struggled against his steel grip.
"You're lucky," he added, "that I like that."
Makoto finally giggled, and Touma laughed with her. "Okay, I
get it, Touma. You win. So when are you going to let me up?"
"I have yet," he said in a mocking tone, "to decide."
**********
Touma still hadn't decided two seconds later, when a quartet of
gleaming robots scaled the building and attacked them. With a loud
curse, he rolled off of Makoto and drew his golden bow, the Sho Ha Kyu.
Even as it was snapping into position, he pulled an arrow from his
quiver and launched it at the closest of the machines.
Makoto flipped onto her feet and grabbed another of the
creatures by its metal skull, straining to crush the smooth silver orb
in her hands. There was a sound like nails on a chalkboard, and her
fingers sank through the armour of the mechanoid's head. It hissed and
spat at her, and a dark cloudbank began to roll in as thunder boomed
overhead. The robot swung at her, and connected, but Makoto simply
grinned through the pain. A slim antennae rose from her tiara...
"JUPITER THUNDER... CRASH!"
**********
"Doctor! We've isolated the energy signature. It's definitely
similar to the one from last night!"
"Excellent, Ken! Begin disruption procedures and prepare for
our next sample..."
**********
Touma screamed as his entire mind began to go on strike.
Dropping his bow and clutching his head, he pulled off his helmet and
tried, illogically, to tear his own brain out of his head. ANYTHING,
he pleaded to nobody in particular, I'll do ANYTHING! Just make the
pain STOP! His yoroi seemed to short circuit, flickering in and out
of existence in a cloud of hissing and crackling blue sparks. He had
died, once, and had his body and soul devoured by the demon lord
Arago. This actually felt worse.
Falling to his knees, Touma gagged and vomited on the rooftop.
The robots moved in mercilessly, even as Sailor Jupiter finished off
one and rushed over to fight the other pair. She wasn't going to make
it in time, he could tell. Whatever it was these things wanted, they
were going to get it. A fresh wave of agony rippled up from his
toes, and brought most of lunch with it. Clutching his stomach, Touma
felt hot tears burning in the corners of his eyes. It wasn't FAIR!
He couldn't go out like this... not now!
There was only one hope. Staggering backwards, he made it to
his feet and looked back at Sailor Jupiter for a moment... before
leaping off of the building's edge, and plummeting down through the
stormy sky.
"TOUMA!!!" Makoto screamed at the top of her lungs, her throat
already raw and tears streaming down her face. Immediately, her sorrow
turned into rage, and she howled like a banshee as she closed in on
the remaining machanoids. All three reached the edge of the roof at
the same time...
Where a young man in blue armour hung in mid-air a few feet
below the edge, bow drawn and nocked. "Howdy!" he said cheerfully, and
sent a pair of arrows through the neck of one robot. To Makoto's
continuing surprise, he proceeded to FLY above the battlefield and
draw another fistfull of arrows from his bottomless quiver. The
remaining robot looked more like a pincushion when he was finished.
**********
Touma landed and scowled as he picked up his helmet and jammed
it back on. "Bastards," he hissed.
"Touma?" Jupiter couldn't fight the urge to ask anymore. "How
did you do that just now?"
"I figured they were using some kind of radiation to disrupt
my yoroi crystal, so I jumped off of the building. Radiation always
travels in a straight line, so once I was out of sight, my armour came
back at full strength." He smiled. "And Tenku NEVER lets me down."
"Wow. You really ARE a genius, Touma. And what if you had been
wrong? What would have happened?"
Touma shrugged. "I'd be a very small stain on the ground now.
What's your point?" He didn't seem to understand why Makoto was so
frustrated. It had WORKED, hadn't it? "What really worries me is that
whoever was behind this is still out there... and I'm willing to bet
he'll try again..."
TO BE CONTINUED...