Hello again, everybody!
^_^
Just thought I'd check and see how you're all doing. By all means, feel free
to send me your C&C! It really makes my day, you know. As usual, I have been
working my poor fingers to the bone on this one, but fortunately my new,
more durable replacement fingers came from Acme today, so I can be off
working on chapter five, come hell or high water (well, snow drifts,
anyway). ^_-
BTW, in case you're wondering, the Kameda Medical Center really does exist.
It's in Kamogawa City, which is about two hours away from Tokyo, and is a
benchmark and a trendsetter in the world of private hospitals. It
restructured in 1991, and actually does have carpets, escalators, works of
art, and background music. The in-patients' rooms look like hotel suites,
and there is even a menu for room service. Swanky, huh? ^_^
Anyway, it must be late, because I'm rambling (or is it preambling?) more
than usual. On with the story, and I hope you all enjoy!
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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 4 : INNER BATTLES
A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
Part 4 : THE RAZOR'S EDGE
Shuu Rei Fuan marched down the sidewalk, the cool evening
breeze ruffling his hair as he rummaged through the multiple pockets
of his photographer's jacket. "Hang on a minute, I wrote the address
down! It's got to be in here somewhere..."
Jun Yamano laughed as he circled the older boy on his
skateboard. "Shuu! It won't be hard to miss : it's a big hospital!
Nobody could possibly get lost looking for it!"
A boy with an umbrella wandered past, looking from left to
right with great frustration. "Pardon me," he said in a tone of
desperation as he grabbed Shuu's jacket in both hands, "but where are
we? Is this still Tokyo?"
"No," Shuu admitted, "we're smack in the middle of Kamogawa
right now... have you seen the Kameda Medical Center?"
"Not yet... but I probably will." The boy released Shuu and
raced off into traffic, arms flailing. "HANG ON, AKANE! I'M COMING!"
"Weirdo." Jun shrugged, and continued his slow circling of
the Yoroiden of Kongo. "Shuu, do you have any idea how hard it is to
get lost between the bus stop and the hospital? If we don't get there,
the guys will NEVER let us live it down."
Suddenly, an ambulance hurtled past the pair, siren wailing
as it shrieked around the corner. "Hey," Jun said, "there must have
been one heck of an accident..."
"What luck!" Shuu gushed. "Follow that ambulance, Jun! We're
going to the hospital!"
**********
Ryo Sanada looked up and blinked. "Okay, you're crazy."
Throwing his good arm in the air, he began walking away. "See ya!"
"Trust me, boy!" His companion, a cowled figure who answered
only to the name 'Owl', grabbed the boy's leather jacket. "This is the
place to have your wounds looked after. She's the only one in this
realm I can trust."
"Are you stupid?" Ryo pointed to the sign hanging above them.
"Even I can read enough Mandarin to know that that sign does not say
Chinese Herbalist, it does not say Chinese Acupuncture, it says
Chinese RESTAURANT! What, you thought we could grab an egg roll or
something? You dragged me out of a perfectly good hospital! Screw you,
pal : I'm going home!"
"Things are never as they appear, boy. Escpecially in this part
of town." That said, Owl grabbed Ryo's good arm with his free hand and
carried the Yoroiden into the bustling eatery. A young girl with thick
purple hair glided over with a large smile.
"Nihao! Will take order in just..." Her face fell. "Owl.
Great-grandmother expecting you. Follow Shampoo."
"Gladly, my dear." Owl bowed and gestured for Ryo to follow
the young woman across the crammed restaurant and up a flight of
stairs in the back.
Soon, a wizened old woman swung into view, lunging forward on
an equally wizened old staff. "Greetings, my little rebel leader. How
fares the Dark Kingdom?"
"We labour under a madman," Owl said in a matter-of-fact manner
as he kissed the ancient crone's hand.
**********
Jadeite sneered as he gently rapped his knuckles on the armrest
of his looming obsidian throne. The seat had been carefully cultivated,
the streams of water strained and redirected as they trickled down the
cave walls until the formation had grown out into the comforting chair
he sat in. King Abjurad the Merciful had begun this throne in his
reign, and now, almost four thousand years later, his conquerers ruled
from it.
Jadeite had always been a big fan of irony. It was a cardinal
rule of the Dark Kingdom, begun by Beryl and continued by himself : a
thing of beauty is... likely to be taken by someone bigger than you.
Somewhere in this very castle were countless storerooms filled with
paintings, sculptures, and other fineries. He didn't care for them,
but it gave him a warm feeling to know they were his to not care for.
Nearby, Nise Suiko cast a dubious look at the man from his
own perch on the stairs leading to the throne. He had removed his
armour shell, and was dressed simply in a black version of Jadeite's
own austere grey uniform. "Uhm... it's been three hours. Do you think
he's dead yet?"
Jadeite carefully checked his watch. "Hmmm... we'll give him
another few minutes. Pirahna are slow eaters in such small numbers,
and he did have a rather hard exoskeleton."
"Isn't this a bit much?" Nise asked, toying with the shaft
of his harpoon. "I mean, I would have whacked him for you gladly.
There was no need to make a big deal out of it."
"I disagree." Jadeite rested his face aganst his gloved hand,
idly drumming the fingers of his other hand on one knee. "I sent that
bug on a simple sabotage mission, and he came back spreading
dissension. There are two things I won't stand for in my kingdom, and
dissension is one of them."
"What's the other?"
"Those sissy drinks with the stupid umbrellas in them. You
know, the ones they give you in a coconut?" Jadeite shook his head
and clucked his tongue. "Makes me sick."
"Uhm, okay." Nise Suiko pursed his lips and decided to change
the topic. "Er... I sent Kamisori to wrap up that loose end in
Kamogawa. He ought to be done any time now."
"I see."
"So... do you think he's dead yet?"
Jadeite checked his watch. "No, it usually takes them another
hour to chew their way to something vital. Want to go get some pizza?"
"Sure, why not?"
**********
Touma Hashiba stared blankly into the distance, his eyes
drifting over the skyline. It was really quite beautiful, the city, he
decided. The sun had set just a few minutes ago, and now the windows
were lighting up like an earthbound sea of stars. He wondered how many
other people were standing out on rooftops even now, staring out at him
and dealing with the same problems he was. Probably none, he thought.
"Hah! Those psychos will NEVER find me up here..." Makoto
Kino popped out of the starwell and slammed the door shut, leaning
against it and grinning victoriously. "Oh, Touma!" Immediately, her
guilty grin faded as the tall brunette walked over to her boyfriend
and smiled at him. "So here's where you ran off to!"
"Sorry about that, Makoto." Touma grinned halfheartedly. "It's
just... well, I get a little claustrophobic sometimes. With all the
Senshi and Seiji's family in that little room, the air was getting a
little thin for my tastes."
"I guess the Yoroiden of Tenku would be a little more
comfortable with wide open spaces, huh?" Makoto smirked and sat next
to Touma on the rooftop, dangling her legs over the edge with him. "So
now that we've got your cover story set up, what's really wrong?"
Touma began to object, then let his shoulders slump in
submission. "I don't know, it's just... Ryo's all depressed, and Seiji
got in that car crash, and God only knows what's been going on with
Shin in Yamaguchi. It feels like everything's just falling apart on
us!" He sighed, and ran his fingers through his jagged blue hair. "I
mean, we've always been the guys who come to the rescue, the ones that
everybody counts on. Now I'm starting to wonder : who do we count on?
Who saves the heroes, who rescues the rescuers?"
"Tuxedo Kamen." Makoto laughed. "Didn't you know?" She grinned,
and rested her head on his shoulder. "Relax, Touma. It's not your job
to protect us all every second of the day. Feeling better?"
Touma snorted, then chuckled slightly. ""Yeah, I guess. Maybe.
I don't know." Leaning forward, he quickly kissed her. "Thanks for
listening to me, even if I wasn't making any sense."
"Ahhh..." Makoto gently nuzzled the side of his neck and
wrapped her arms around him. "I don't mind. You're cute when you're
not making any sense."
**********
Jun Yamano carefully tried not to spill his precious cargo as
he minced down the antiseptic corridors of the hospital. Man, he
thought as he treaded lightly past closed doors, even the expensive
hospitals smell bad. Even worse were the thick carpeted floors and
fancy looking pieces of art adorning the walls. How did they keep
everything so CLEAN?
Somebody bumped him roughly, and Jun frantically struggled to
maintain both his balance and his grip on his skateboard, which he was
using as a tray to carry nearly twenty cups of coffee. "Hey!" He
yelped as the steaming liquid sloshed dangerously near the lips of
the cups. "What's your problem, you big..."
The man glared down at him, and Jun nearly bit his tongue
closing his mouth. At first glance, the stranger didn't seem very
impressive, a gaijin man wearing the white coat of a doctor, with
short black hair and a slim face, his goatee adding to a vaguely
sinister look. Definitely not someone Jun, who had been facing down
Masho and yauja since he was ten, should be afraid of. Until he had
noticed the man's eyes flashing red.
"Er... sorry, my fault. I'll be more careful from now on...
sir." Jun slowly backed away, never taking his eyes off of the strange
man for an instant. Once he rounded the corner, he dropped the coffee
and started running towards the waiting room. This was DEFINITELY
something the guys needed to hear about!
**********
"Damn it!" Jun looked around and stamped one foot in
frustration. Where were all the guys? Ryo, Shin and Touma were still
nowhere to be seen, and now Shuu had disappeared too. It never failed :
he stumbled across some lethal extraterrestrial threat, and the Samurai
Troopers were on break!
Well that was just fine. Jun set his jaw and clenched his
fists. All these defenseless ladies, unaware that a... that a... he
blinked. Well, that SOMETHING pretty freaky was skulking around in the
corridors of the hallway, just waiting for a chance to do unspeakable
things... it was going to be up to him to protect them.
"Hi! You're Jun, right?" A younger girl with pink hair bounced
over and smiled up at him. "What'cha doing? It looks REALLY boring..."
Jun took a deep breath. How would Ryo handle this? "It's
none of your business, kid. Just keep your head down and maybe you
won't get hurt." Well, that was Ryo usually said to him... come to
think of it, when was the last time saying that had worked?
"None of my..." The girl's face turned beet red. "Why, you!
I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT MY BUSINESS IS!"
Jun looked around for some assistance, but all of the women
were deliberately ignoring him. In fact, the older blond girl with the
two ponytails was hiding behind the candy machine, which did little to
make him feel better. "Uhm, er, ah... I mean..."
The girl wasn't listening to him, her voice rising in both
volume and pitch by the second. "HOW DARE YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO, YOU
MEAN, UGLY, STUPID BOY! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MY BUSINESS IS ANYTHING
I SAY IT IS, AND IF YOU THINK OTHERWISE THEN YOU'RE JUST WRONG!"
"B-but, I didn't mean to..."
"WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!"
Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and Jun looked over at one
of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen. She had flowing black hair,
alabaster skin (he'd heard Seiji use that phrase once), and the
largest, most beautiful purple eyes he'd ever seen.
"Excuse me? I think you had better just tell her what you're
doing. At this rate, she'll start throwing a tantrum soon."
Jun sighed, and grabbed the little pink-haired terror by the
shoulders. "Listen!" He said hastily. "There's some really weird guy
lurking around here, and I think he might be planning to do something!
Maybe even hurt Seiji!" If this wasn't a tantrum, he didn't want to
know what was.
"Lurking?" Suddenly, the girl was back to normal, her eyes
wide with enthusiasm. "Are you sure?"
"Hey, I've been lurked by some of the best lurkers in the
Dynasty! Believe me : this guy was lurking." Jun folded his arms and
leaned against the wall, just like Seiji. "And if he shows up around
here, I'm going to teach him a lesson."
"Wow! An evil monster, right here in the hospital!" The girl
grinned cruelly. "Hey, Hotaru! Let's go get it!"
The dark haired goddess in the school uniform frowned prettily.
"I don't know, Chibi-Usa... maybe we should just tell Haruka-papa and
Michiru-mama, and let them handle it..."
"Are you nuts?" Chibi-Usa looked at Hotaru as if the girl had
grown another head. "If we tell those two, they'll tell..." she jerked
her pink head in the direction of the blonde behind the candy machine,
"you know who, and then she'll ruin everything! We can take of this
ourselves : we don't need them tagging along!"
"I'm still not sure..."
"What are you, scared?" Chibi-Usa smirked and crossed her arms.
"I never thought you were a chicken, Hotaru..."
"I'm not a chicken! I just don't want to get in trouble..."
"We WON'T! They'll never even know we're gone!" Chibi-Usa
grabbed Jun by the sleeve. "C'mon, Jun! Show us this monster!"
A convenient patch of shadow on the wall shook its head. Better
go after them, it decided, just in case the kid really was on to
something. Unnoticed, it drifted out of the room after the trio of
children.
**********
Jun wandered over to the escalator. "He was headed this way
the last time I saw him. He must have gone down!"
"What if he went upstairs?" Hotaru asked sensibly.
"Well then he won't be there when we ask downstairs, will he?"
Jun smiled at his own logic. Touma couldn't possibly have come up with
a better plan than this one! "And then we'll know we need to go up."
At that exact moment, the escalators stopped. The lights flickered off
too, then slowly came back on as the hospital's generator kicked in.
"He's definitely downstairs," Chibi-Usa decided. "He's cutting
off the power. Bad guys ALWAYS cut off the power."
"We can't let him do that!" Hotaru said suddenly. "There's
countless people here on life support! If he destroys the backup
generators, they could die!"
"And the doctors would all be busy trying to save them!" Jun
snapped his fingers as the final piece fell into place. "Nobody would
notice him when he tried to kill Seiji! We gotta stop him!"
Agreed, the trio ran down the still inoperative escalator and
prepared to face their enemy. The shadow groaned softly, then vaulted
over the railing and landed gently on the carpeted floor below. Why,
it wondered, just ONCE, couldn't this be a simple mechanical failure?
**********
The basement of the Kameda Medical Centre wasn't nearly as
ritzy as the upper levels, Jun noticed as he clanged his way down the
metal stairs. Exposed pipes dripped noisily into their puddles, cement
floors were cracked and pieces of drywall had flaked off of their
foundations in several places. There was a foul smell of must in the
air, too.
Chibi-Usa pinched her nose daintily. "Sheesh! This place reeks!
I'm thinking this wasn't such a good idea..."
"KUSO!" Jun cried out as he hopped back unexpectedly, bumping
into Chibi-Usa, who then bumped into Hotaru, who fell down. A man in
a janitor's uniform had fallen unexpectedly out of the darkness and
landed in a heap at Jun's feet.
"Geez, man! You should be more careful..." Jun rolled the man
over and got a better look at him. "Except you don't need to, because
you're dead. Hmmm." He thought about that for a second. "I think I hear
my mama calling..."
"I WISH I heard my mama calling," Hotaru and Chibi-Usa softly
whispered, then glanced suspiciously at each other.
"What did you just say, Hotaru?"
"Nothing!" Hotaru blinked. "What did YOU just say, Chibi-Usa?"
"Nothing!" Chibi-Usa hopped up to her feet, and grabbed at
her henshin. "Let's go show this thing who's boss! MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
"SATURN CRYSTAL POWER!" A scintillating light enveloped the
two girls, who gracefully pirouetted into the gleaming fuku of Sailor
Saturn and Chibimoon, respectively. Jun gulped loudly, and settled for
dusting off his jeans as he stood.
Something in the darkness moved, and a blur of blue and silver
suddenly flashed forward, long sword blades extending from its wrists
and serrated, dagger-like prongs growing from its elbows and toes.
Sailor Chibimoon shrieked and ducked, and lost her headpiece to the
slashing youma's blades.
"Hey! That's no fair!" Pouting, she pointed her heart-shaped
Pink Sugar Heart Rod at the creature. "PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK!" For
once, it actually worked, sending a flurry of small pink hearts
whirling through the air and pelting the robotic monster.
The monster looked down in mute disgust as the hearts fluttered
helplessly away from its body after bouncing off. Was this some kind of
attack? It shrugged, and lifted its blades menacingly. There was a
crackling sound of static, as it spoke.
"KISSEN... NO... KAMASORIKEN!"
"What did he say?" Chibi-Usa stared in confusion. Jun, on the
other hand, leapt over and knocked both girls out of the way.
"Look out!" Jun howled as dozens of whirling serrated discs
hurtled from the launchers under the creature's palms and whined
through steel pipes, concrete floor, and Jun's shoulder. Ricocheting
back, they hurtled towards their owner, who ducked aside and deftly
caught each.
"Holy crap! What the heck was that?" Jun winced as he clutched
his shoulder.
"I think he called it the 'Risky Razor Attack', but there was
so much static I couldn't be sure." Hotaru grabbed Jun's shoulder,
smiling shyly at him as she healed his wound.
"Hey, everybody!" Chibi-Usa yelled, "DUCK! He's gonna do it
again!"
"KISSEN... NO... KAMISORI-" A sudden chorus of cracks filled
the basement as a series of bolts flashed through the air and slammed
into the cement floor in rapid succession. The robot leapt back and
looked around, its glowing V-shaped visor panning the area.
Their aura of energy fading, a row of red roses quivered
slightly in their places, driven into the cement floor as if by a
sledgehammer. His cape flapping gently around him, Tuxedo Kamen looked
up from his perch on a nearby pipe, the lenses of his white mask
glinting in the shadows as he doffed his hat with one gloved hand.
"It seems," he said, "I have interrupted something. Sailor
Saturn, Sailor Chibimoon... do you mind if I cut in?" He bowed
gallantly, sweeping his hat back and then snapping it at the robot,
sending it flying foreward and hacking through its forearm.
The robot gurgled electronically and stumbled back, lifting its
other arm. "KISSEN NO KAMISORIKEN!" The whirling blades flew forth
once again, and Tuxedo Kamen jumped into action, tumbling across the
floor and hurling another pair of roses at the creature as its razor
discs flashing over his head.
Sailor Saturn grabbed her Silence Glaive and rushed over,
ducking and swinging at the android's legs. At the last possible
second, the machine tumbled forward, slashing out with its sword
blade, which clanged loudly off of Tuxedo Kamen's cane. Sailor
Chibimoon also rushed forward, flying back the way she came as an
armoured leg came in violent contact with her stomach. Jun caught her
at the last second, just like a professional football player grabbing
a winning pass.
The whirling razor blades rang off of the far wall and
ricocheted off into the distance.
"Are you okay?" Jun asked, and Chibi-Usa clutched her stomach,
groaning in pain. Jun set her gently down, and ran over to where Tuxedo
Kamen and Sailor Saturn were struggling with the android. He stood
back, waiting for an opening and gripping his skateboard nervously.
The spinning discs bounced once more, clanging as they flew
off of a steel pipe and headed back the way they came.
Tuxedo Kamen slashed at the creature with his cane, parrying
the sword that had been aimed at Hotaru's head. Finally sighting his
opportunity, Jun raced forward and threw himself onto the board,
skidding into the back of its legs and knocking it off balance.
Hotaru took the advantage and grabbed the android, using her Silence
Glaive to pin back its one arm.
Tuxedo Kamen dodged to one side as a laser flashed out of the
visor and burned through the air. In classic fencing form, he lanced
forward like a human spear and drove his cane deep into its chest.
With the buzzing sound of an angry swarm of bees, twelve razor edged
discs sank deep into the android's torso, eating their way into its
power core.
"Uh-oh..." Jun muttered as Saturn scooped him under one arm
and ran for the stairs, Tuxedo Kamen sweeping Chibimoon into his
grasp and following soon after. The robot gurgled and coughed for
several minutes, until it suddenly exploded, the pieces rapidly
disintegrating as they fell to the ground.
Tuxedo Kamen lifted his cape, which he had been using to shield
Sailor Chibimoon from the glare of the blast. "Are you okay, Chibi?"
Chibi-Usa giggled and latched onto him. "That was GREAT! My
hero : Tuxedo Kamen!"
Mamoru tried not to look flustered, and failed miserably.
Sailor Saturn rose from where she had been shielding Jun and
looked down at him. "Are you... okay?"
"Yeah," Jun chuckled. "My hero."
**********
Jadeite ground his teeth together, crushing the remnants of
his pizza crust in one hand. "I don't believe it. I WON'T believe it.
It is unbelievable!"
Nise Suiko shrugged. "It's true. Kamasori appears to have been
beaten by Sailor Chibimoon and Sailor Saturn. And some boy."
Jadeite groaned deeply and rested his head in his hands. "This
is not happening," he moaned. "I am not involved in any of this. My
own, personal, HAND-PICKED assassin was not beaten by two Sailor brats
and one little punk kid!" Reaching over, he grabbed Nise Suiko's shirt
and hoisted him into the air. "Tell me this isn't happening!"
"Well... we think Tuxedo Kamen might have been involved, if
that makes you feel any better..." Nise shrugged. "Other than that, I
don't know what to tell you. Maybe the Owl..."
"The Owl doesn't exist, Nise. Beryl crushed that rebellious
little bug centuries ago, and buried the pieces so deep even I couldn't
find them!" Jadeite threw the evil double of Shin Mouri across the
room, and buried his face in his fist. "No, it's Tuxedo Kamen we need
to worry about... he has a bad habit of ruining my plans. I think it
may be his only hobby."
"Well, why don't we set a trap?" Nise Suiko asked, dusting off
his uniform. "I mean, if I've been following your rants correctly,
he's already dating our bait. I'll grab a few of the guys, and we'll
wipe him out. No fuss, no muss."
"Your idea is doomed to failure, reflection." A third figure
wafted into the throne room, a gleaming crystal ball casting its light
over its hunched, ragged form. The only visible part of it were its
hands, which glowed and shimmered as if made more from energy than
from flesh.
"Oh, yeah?" Jadeite asked politely. "And who, if I may ask,
the hell are you, to come uninvited into my personal abode? If I like
your answer, maybe I won't even incinerate you. Maybe."
The cowled figure chuckled faintly. "I am your newest servant,
mighty Jadeite. I offer guidance, advice... and revenge."
"How very odd," Jadeite mused, "that I hear you talking and yet
you haven't said anything. I think it's time you died now. Thanks for
stopping by..." A web of energy burst into lfe around his fingers as
he pointed at the intruder.
"I," said the figure quickly, "am the one destined to kill
Sailor Pluto!"
"Urge to kill... fading." Jadeite lowered his hand, and the
crackling web of dark energy which had surrounded it faded into a
barely visible cloud of sparks. "You have regained my interest. Talk
fast : I am not a patient man."
The cowled figure appeared to school its thoughts. "I am a
being of great power, mighty Jadeite, and I seek merely the same goals
as yourself : the total obliteration of the Samur... the Sailor
Senshi."
Jadeite raised one eyebrow. "Urge to kill rising... Talk
faster!"
"You may call me Wiseman, mighty Jadeite, and I assure you
that with my assistance, your victory over the Senshi will be certain!
Without it..." Wiseman gestured, and his ball floated over to Jadeite's
lap, where it suddenly turned into a skull and fell to the ground,
shattering into dust. Jadeite blinked, and the orb was once again
floating in Wiseman's hands.
"Okay, you sold me." Jadeite grinned boyishly. "I love magic
tricks. Welcome to the team, Wiseman. You'd better work out better
than the tin can you're replacing."
"I shall, mighty Jadeite." Wiseman turned to Nise Suiko, and
seemed to stare at the creature in silent thought. "Heed my words,"
he said at last, "and I shall guide you. THIS is how we shall kill
Tuxedo Kamen, and with him Sailor Moon..."
TO BE CONTINUED...