Back in the saddle again... ^_^
But seriously, thanks again to everybody reading this. I hope you like my
explaination of Ryo's new Rekka, and please feel free to tell me what you
think.
C&C, MST, just plain old fashioned notes, you name 'em, I want 'em! ^_^
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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. I'm a
student.
RONIN SUMMER 2 : HOMECOMINGS
A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
Part 5 : Time After Time
Touma Hashiba blinked. Since it bore repeating, he blinked
again. After a second or two, he decided to blink a third time, for
luck. Things weren't getting better. Ryo Sanada, his leader and
friend, lay in the grass nearby moaning faintly. A haze of thick
white mist still cloaked the clearing, and every time Touma shifted
his feet, he heard something crunch. Crystal, under his armoured
boots.
He almost wanted to cry. It wasn't just any crystal, but the
mystical yoroi of Rekka under his feet, broken into a million pieces.
And all the King's horses and all the King's men, he thought wildly,
will NEVER make Ryo a Ronin again...
Ami Mizuno wasn't any better off, he noticed. She had sunk to
her knees and was crying as if her favorite pet had died. Her friend
Makoto Kino, who looked REALLY nice in her Sailor Jupiter uniform,
kneeled next to the blue-haired girl and was trying to console her.
With a sigh, Touma let his yoroi disappear in a blue flash
of light, leaving him in the sleek and form-fitting undergear of the
Yoroiden. Ryo was dressed similarly, only with red instead of blue
being the prominent color. However, even as Touma watched, his
friend's undergear began to flicker and disappeared, leaving him clad
only in a pair of jeans.
"It's over." Touma sounded as if he had been kicked in the
stomach. "Ryo no Rekka is... dead. And soon, Ryo Sanada may wish he
was..."
**********
Somewhere - or more accurately someWHEN - , a tall and shapely
woman in a sailor fuku stiffened as she felt something go terribly,
terribly wrong with the future. "I sense a grave disturbance..."
Setsuna Meioh muttered, and then shook her head. She was NOT going to
say it, she vowed. She was NOT.
Sailor Pluto only needed a few 'moments' to track down the
disturbance. After all, it was a source near and dear to her : Ryo
Sanada. Somehow, the poor boy had gotten his yoroi destroyed! This was
NOT good, she knew.
Ryo Sanada was going to NEED to have his yoroi very 'soon'.
More accurately, Usagi Tsukino and Ami Mizuno were going to need
him to have it : this Setsuna had heard the story several times from
the bards of the Silver Millenium. It was almost as popular a story
as the one of how Touma Hashiba and Makoto Kino had... well, that was
another matter.
This had to be fixed. And... she winced... TIME was of the
essence. But HOW to fix it, that was the rub! The change had happened,
and Setsuna Meioh had learned the hard way that fixing a timeline
by disrupting it further only made matters worse for someone else down
the line, namely one of her future or past selves.
This was going to be tricky.
**********
Makoto looked down at Ryo Sanada. "He doesn't look so good,
Touma! I think you ought to see this."
Touma stared down at his friend. "We Yoroiden are bonded to
our yoroi : it's as if they're part of our bodies. The shock of
losing his would be like someone cutting off one of his limbs."
Ami knelt and placed Ryo's head gingerly in her lap. "Isn't
there anything we can do to wake him up?" This was all her fault, she
thought to herself. She had broken the yoroi, she hadn't waited the
extra second it took for her friends to come, and this was the result.
"Wake up!" Ami shook him, but Ryo simply sagged forward.
Desperate, Ami leaned down and whispered quickly into the
boy's ear. She went on at some length, and as she finished, Ryo's
eyes all but flew open.
"Now for THAT," he said in a shocked tone of voice, "I'd come
back from the DEAD!"
Both Touma and Makoto began laughing in relief, and Ami
started to blush like there was no tomorrow. "Uhm... I didn't think
you would actually HEAR that, Ryo..."
"Tough! I'm holding you to it!" Ryo slowly sat up and smiled
over his shoulder at Ami. "One official date, with all the trimmings :
dinner, dancing, and hand holding included, that's what you promised
me. And I'm going to collect... right after I manage to stand."
"He's taking it rather well, isn't he, Touma?"
"Better than I expected, Makoto. I think he may be in shock."
**********
Genichirou Hashiba sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.
The latest reports had come through from the remote units they had
sent after the Sanadas... as it turned out, the man hadn't possessed
the crystal, but his son had.
Ken, his assistant, walked in with another stack of paperwork.
Probably the latest readings off of the one crystal they had managed
to find. So far, the blasted thing had defied all attempts to be
classified : after twelve different tests, they had exactly twelve
totally different results. And to make things worse, Dr. Hashiba's
employer was getting anxious for a yoroi of his own.
"Are those the reports on the Sanadas?" Genichirou asked,
turning and accepting the stack from Ken.
"Yes, doctor. Mr. Xavier seems to think that we can gain more
by detaining the elder Sanada ; apparently he feels that the son is
sure to come to rescue his father, and we will then capture the
crystal there."
"Didn't you tell him that the boy's crystal was destroyed?"
Ken shrugged helplessly. "Mr. Xavier was... not interested in
listening to me."
Genichirou sighed. "Any other news?"
"Yes, actually. One of our security guards died last night.
Broken neck. Apparently he fell over the fourth floor balcony railing
and landed by the fountain."
"How very odd. I'm sure his family was taken... care..."
Genichirou heard his voice trail off as he turned and stared at the
long, ornate dagger now pinning down his papers. "Oh, my... THAT
certainly wasn't there a second ago."
**********
Kyoda Sanada was hungry, and thirsty, and sore. He had been
attacked by some kind of machines at his own home, tied up, kidnapped,
and held against his will in what looked almost too clean to be the
dungeon it was. He wondered idly what photographs he had taken to get
him grabbed THIS time.
Then he wondered who the blond boy crawling out of the ceiling
panels was.
"Ohayo, Sanada-san!" The boy whispered, pressing a finger to
his lips and motioning for silence as he gracefully flipped out of
the air duct and landed softly on his feet. "Have you by any chance
seen the yoroi of Korin? It's about THIS big, green, may or may not
be glowing?"
Kyoda Sanada shook his head stupidly and the boy cursed under
his breath. "Chikuso! I've been crawling around this building for
HOURS and I haven't got clue one!" As if realising he had forgotten
his manners, the blond boy extended one grease covered hand. "Hi.
Seiji Date. I'm a friend of your son's."
**********
"So then you came back here." Minako Aino leaned back against
the dresser adorning one whole wall of the cramped little motel room.
"Pretty much," Seiji admitted. "I promised Mr. Sanada that I'd
come back later, though. He won't fit in the vents like we can, and I
managed to convince him that we were too deep in the complex to walk
out." Rubbing his throat, he grabbed a can of Coke and opened it.
All this espionage made him thirsty.
"And did you plant Yayoi's cameras, dear?" Seiji's mother
looked up from where she sat primly in the one chair of the room.
"Yes, mother."
Yayoi Date, twirling her bokken idly, shrugged. "It really is
a bit of a long shot, but if we can catch them doing something illegal
on film, we could have them shut down without having to explain about
the whole... yoroi... thing."
"Fortunately, young Seiji has saved us that delay,
granddaughter." The elderly man sitting on the corner of the bed rose
to his full height and stroked his chin idly as he spoke. "You see,
if this Xavier person is actually holding a man captive, then we can
bring ALL of the police down on him."
"But it's just Seiji's word against this Mr. Xavier, whoever
he is." Minako shrugged. "Who would believe Seiji over a rich
industrialist?"
Satsuke, sitting quietly in the corner, spoke up. "I know
someone who would listen to Seiji over a rich industrialist..."
**********
Salior Pluto looked down at her chosen champion. "Do you
understand what I ask of you?"
The young girl nodded. "I believe so... Sailor Pluto. I have
to find the yoroi of Rekka in MY timeline, so that I can give it to
some boy in ANOTHER timeline. Right?"
"Yes. This is a mission of vital importance, and only you
can do it, for reasons which will soon become obvious. In your
timeline, and YOURS ALONE, the Yoroiden Samurai Troopers were never
needed to battle the demon lord Arago. Their yoroi were never
activated, and thus one can be removed with no damage to your
timeline." Setsuna took a breath. It had been a very long time, since
she had needed to speak to another person, but she couldn't afford to
appear in this alternate timeline, since she happened to exist in it.
"Find the crystal of Rekka, my champion. And for the sake of your
entire universe, TELL NO ONE of what occurs. Not your friends, not
even the Sailor Senshi of your world."
The girl pondered that for a moment. "Are you sure you want to
send ME on this mission? I think one of my other friends would be MUCH
better suited..."
"The choice has been made." Sailor Pluto lifted her hands and
pointed at the frightened girl. "Now GO! Find the yoroi of Rekka!"
**********
The heat was the first thing that Pluto's Champion noticed as
she appeared from the mists of time. She was near a volcano! No...
she was IN a volcano! Gasping in surprise, the girl tried to keep the
molten lava from burning her fragile skin. One touch, she knew, and
her body would go up in flames like kindling.
Pluto had been right, the girl decided : she WAS the only
person who could survive being even THIS close to the heart of an
active volcano. Her powers helped her slightly, but the heat still
caused her skin to blister. She hoped that Ami Mizuno and Ryo Sanada
appreciated the effort she was going through!
Carefully, the girl picked her way across the thin spar of
stone still holding together over the swirling lake of melted rock.
Why, oh WHY, couldn't someone else be here, she wondered. The rock
creaked and crumbled dangerously under her feet, but somehow she
maintained her balance. Not bad, she thought to herself, for someone
who had always done poorly in gym class.
Sweat poured down her face, pooling in her eyes and stinging
them as she squinted at the far side of the volcano. Oh, well! It was
only the distance of a good-sized football field away! THAT was
going to be easy!
She managed to keep thinking that for ten feet, until a large
and heavily armoured demon leapt out of the lava and landed in front
of her. Glowing fluid dripped off of its shell and sizzled as it hit
the stone supporting them both.
The girl gulped. "Uhm... you're here to guide anyone looking
for the yoroi of Rekka, right?"
The demon shook its head and the girl began to bite her
nails. She had fought monsters before, but this one was so BIG...
"Let me guess... you're here to... KILL anyone trying to find the
yoroi of Rekka, right?"
The demon's armoured mask twisted into a smile, and it nodded.
Pluto's Champion gulped. "I should have known..."
**********
Ami Mizuno carried Ryo back up to his room and lay him in his
bed. This was easier than she wanted to admit : it felt like he was
barely even there. Despite what had happened, despite what she had
done to him, he still smiled as she set him down and pulled the covers
over him.
"Heh. All tucked in and ready for my good-night kiss, mommy..."
Ami had to smile a little at that. "How can you be so jovial
at a time like this? I destroyed your armour, Ryo."
Ryo thought about that for a moment. "Ami, do you remember
back when we were trapped in the Dark One's gem? Near the end, and you
were starting to fade away?"
Ami nodded sadly, and Ryo continued. "Well, that's when I
realised what I'm trying to tell you now. Back in that gem, I still
had Rekka... but I thought for a few minutes that I wasn't going to
have you. And I would rather be Ryo Sanada with you than Ryo no Rekka
without you. And if losing Rekka kept you from being hurt by those...
those things, then it was worth the loss."
"You would lose your yoroi crystal... just to keep me from
getting hurt?" Ami was incredulous.
"Ami, I would lose my LIFE... just to keep you from getting
a hangnail. I love you, in case you're having trouble figuring it out."
Ami blinked. "You..."
Ryo smiled gently. "Yes. Now what happened to that kiss we
were discussing earlier?"
Ami gave it to him.
**********
Pluto's Champion gasped and rolled as the demon's halberd
cleaved through the air, tearing a large portion of her sweater off of
her back. For the sake of modesty and convenience alike, she quickly
transformed and turned to face the creature.
She had two rather interesting problems fighting this demon.
Number one : it was still covered in molten lava. If she touched it,
her hand would probably catch fire. And that sounded uncomfortable.
Number two : it had demonstrated quite clearly that it could survive
a quick dip in the liquid rock and metal below them, and she doubted
she could say the same. That meant if this thing in front of her was
smart, and felt like cheating, all it had to do was break the slim
rock bridge they both stood on.
Instead, it chose to growl and swing at her again with the
long polearm. Ducking again, she tried to dodge past it... and tripped
over its outthrust leg. Stumbling, she shrieked as she saw the lava
pool come rushing up towards her...
...and stop, as something grabbed her ankle firmly. She
watched numbly as she was lifted into the air and stared into the
gleaming eyeslot of the demon which had grabbed her.
"I don't get it," she breathed. "You won!"
The demon's voice was gravelly as it replied. "You tripped."
Slowly, understanding began to filter into her head as the
smoldering demon set her back on the walkway. "You're not here to
kill me at all, are you? You're here to TEST me, and make sure I'm
worthy of the yoroi! And falling wasn't a good enough test, because
anybody could trip by accident!"
The red armoured creature bowed slightly. "Hai. And besides,
I prefer to beat my opponents the old-fashioned way : BRUTALLY!"
Dropping the halberd, it drew a pair of katana swords from the
scabbard on its back and charged her again.
Pluto's Champion yelped and ducked, throwing herself forward
and screaming as the lava washed down over her body, burning away hair
and skin and cloth alike as the demon samurai fell over and dropped
off of the walkway. Gasping for breath, the girl crumpled on the edge
of the stone path and looked down.
The demon still hung onto a small handhold in the natural
rock bridge, gazing up at her with gleaming eyes as the long silver
blades on its helmet lazily dripped lava back down into the pool.
The girl lifted her foot tiredly and prepared to bring it
down on the fingers of the demon, but stopped. After a moment, she
knelt and offered it her hand. For a while the yoroi of Rekka, for of
course that WAS what had been testing her, considered the girl before
it. "You pass," it said as it wrapped its gauntlet around her fingers,
"for indeed, you DO posess... VIRTUE." The gauntlet glowed red, and
began to flow along the girl's arm, healing her wounds as if they had
never been. She closed her eyes and sighed, filled with the sheer
euphoria of a yoroi posessing her. Soon, the new Yoroiden of Rekka,
the only one in this entire timeline, rose to her feet.
How could she ever have hated the heat here? It was...
invigorating, EMPOWERING! She LOVED the heat! Lifting her armoured
hands above her helmeted head, Pluto's Champion laughed joyously and
pirouetted in place. She could tell that the armour she wore was just
FILLED with wonders, and it couldn't wait to share them with her...
But it wasn't hers to take. Her own powers... weakened it,
she could sense. Watered it down, somehow. Sighing, she concentrated
and forced the armour to flow back down into the palm of her hand,
where it formed a ball made of crystal, with a single glimmering
kanji in its centre : VIRTUE. She had a precious cargo to deliever,
the girl decided, and she had already waited too long.
**********
Sailor Pluto smiled as her champion reappeared in the mists of
Time. "Congratulations, my champion. You proved to be as strong as I
remembered you. Not only have you defeated the power of the Rekka, but
your own temptation to keep it for your own. I knew I had chosen well."
The girl blushed and began to hand the globe over to Setsune,
but to her surprise, the Sailor Senshi of Pluto raised her hand and
refused it.
"No, my champion. Take it to them yourself. They, at least,
may know what part you have played in saving us all. Consider it
my reward to you, that you may see the ultimate benefits your gift
shall have."
"Besides," she chuckled as the girl disappeared again, "the
looks on their faces will be priceless."
**********
Toshio Tokushukei walked into the parking lot and dug around
in his pocket for his keys. Yet another day at the grind, he thought
to himself as he headed towards the car. At least this Superintendant
wasn't as bad as his last one...
There was a loud thumping noise, and Toshio groaned as he
looked over at the shadowy figure perched on the hood of his car.
"Code name: Sailor V! The soldier of justice! The
sailor-suited beautiful soldier, Sailor Venus!"
Toshio groaned. "Why can't you just leave me alone? I finally
got transferred off of your case! I don't have to arrest you anymore!
GO AWAY, SAILOR V!"
Sailor V smiled under her domino mask and laughed a litte.
"Oh, come on, Toshio! It's been ages since we last saw each other!"
Toshio growled and opened his car door. "I don't care! I don't
want to know if the Dark whatevers are attacking the Silver something
elses! Leave me alone, okay?"
A second shadow stepped forward from the darkness surrounding
his car, and Toshio began to wish that he had parked under a WORKING
streetlight. He remained that wishful when the shadow spoke.
"Hi, Dad." Seiji Date walked forward and grinned at his
long-absent father.
"Hello, Seiji." Toshio sighed. "How's your mother doing?"
Seiji put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Oh, she's
okay, I guess. We're kind of all in Tokyo right now... "
"Some creep called Xavier stole Seiji's yoroi and he's
kidnapped a famous photographer. Want to help us bust him?" Sailor V
looked up and winked at Toshio. To think! Her Seiji was the son of
good old Toshio! It is, as someone once said, to laugh...
"Seiji? How did you get involved with this... girl?" Toshio
looked at Minako like she was a piece of gum that just wouldn't
scrape off his shoe, no matter how hard he tried.
Minako smiled and took off her mask. "We're dating," she said,
and cheerfully watched Toshio turn an interesting shade of purple.
"Oh no, Seiji... my son! Tell me you aren't!" Toshio was
acting like Seiji just stabbed him straight throught the heart.
"I am, Dad. Actually, I took her home to meet the family.
Grandfather approves, and so does Mother. And you know what that
means..."
Toshio nodded as he looked over at a now-confused Minako Aino,
who raised her hand timidly.
"Uhm, Seiji? I DON'T know what that means."
Toshio smiled a little as he faced Sailor V. "If my wife and
Father-In-Law have found no problems with you, then you're free to
marry my son Seiji, with their blessing." He smiled cheerfully as he
watched Minako turn an interesting shade of purple...
Seiji, having somehow gotten a bit of common sense in the
genetic mix, just settled for ducking behind the car and hoping that
Minako let his father live long enough for everyone to explain things.
**********
Ryo smiled and winked at Ami Mizuno. "You know, Ami," he said
coyly as he gently stroked her back, "I'm not feeling that virtuous
right now..."
Ami blushed and jumped back out of his arms, looking shocked.
Finally, she saw the kidding grin on his face, and scowled cutely at
him. Ryo finally let out the laugh he'd been suppressing.
"Just kidding, Ami. I swear, I'm still a paragon of virtue
and other gentlemanly traits."
Ami smiled shyly and sat back down on the bed. Ryo sat up and
wrapped his arms around her. "Now, where were we before I so rudely
interrupted us?"
Ami leaned her head back and kissed him. "Right about HERE, I
think..."
There was a knock at the door, and Ryo looked up in disgust.
"If that's another group of big silver robots, I quit."
Ami laughed and went to the door. "Konnichi wa?"
A voice from behind the door answered calmly, in English.
"Hello. Are you by any chance Ami Mizuno?"
Ami gulped and turned white. "H...hai," she stuttered, and
backed away from the door. Ryo looked up as his strange visitor
entered the room, and rubbed his eyes.
Whoever this person was, she looked like Ami Mizuno's exact
twin, right down to her white fuku and blue bows. "Hello," she
repeated, and waved self-consciously. "My, uhm, my name is Amy
Anderson. I'm... Sailor Mercury. But I guess you already figured that
out." Ami Mizuno nodded silently, and Ryo did an interesting
impression of a fish out of water.
"Susan... I mean, Setsune... uhm, Sailor Pluto sent me." Amy
shrugged uncomfortably. "She said that Ryo Sanada needed this..."
Ryo's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas as Amy Anderson
retrieved a glowing red orb and handed it to him. "Domo arigato...
Anderson Ami."
Amy smiled. "Well, anyway, I need to get back to my dimension,
so please remember that this never happened. Okay? As long as you
don't tell anyone I was here, your timeline ought to stay fixed."
Ami looked at Amy and nodded. "Yes, that sounds right... at
least, according to my understanding of temporal mechanics."
Amy looked at Ami and nodded. "Yes, by mine too."
Ryo grinned and stared at the yoroi crystal in his hands. "You
know," he said wistfully, "of all the strange, unnatural, and just
plain weird things I've seen since becoming a Yoroiden... this... is
the COOLEST."
Ami and Amy both glared at him. "What exactly is that supposed
to mean, Ryo?" They chorused.
Ryo was laughing too hard to answer, which may have been a
good thing, considering he was outnumbered.
It didn't matter, he decided. He had the yoroi of Rekka back!
And whoever this Sailor Pluto was, he owed her a debt he could never
repay...
**********
Sailor Pluto smiled to herself as she watched Ryo Sanada
lying in bed and smiling at the two Mercurys. "Oh, but you can, Ryo."
Gently, she let her hands reach down to an old and dear
locket, one kept close to her heart. It opened, and she stroked the
photograph contained within with a single finger.
The photo was of herself, her younger self, laughing merrily.
Shuu Rei Fuan, clad in the yoroi of Kongo, was using his fingers to
make bunny ears behind her head. Tomoe Hotaru, Sailor Saturn, was
also in the picture, holding a stuffed tiger, and a familiar man in
red samurai armour had his arms around the younger girl in a friendly
hug. It was the happiest Tomoe had ever looked.
"Oh, but you WILL..."
TO BE CONTINUED...