Here we go once more... made some changes from the first
time around, mainly removing Xavier as CEO. A little too
much, I realized. That, and I gave the company a name.
So far, I have a whopping one response. *sigh* Do people
really not like it THAT much? Maybe I should just resign
myself to the fact that no one reads it, ne?
Ah, who cares, I like it, and if need be, I'll write the other
thirty parts and just leave them on my HDD (yes, it will one
day be LONG). Send C&C, send flames, send the most
horrific fiends from the depths of the Pit... but let me know
what you think!! :)
Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, and
Pluto, as well as Luna, Artemis, and Tuxedo Kamen appear because it
wouldn't be a BSSM Fanfic without them, even though I have no legal
rights to tell them where and when they need to hop into their fukus
(or suitcoats). Any original characters noted, I would rather not see
making cameos unless someone asks. There's very little chance I'll
say no, so just ask first. ;-)
Dialogue will be spoken by the characters in American and Japanese,
though mostly in the latter language. To differentiate, I'm sticking
with a system that I plan on using for all my Fanfics.
"Spoken in Japanese."
"/Spoken in American./"
This takes place after Sailor Moon S (anime), though with a minor
change. I know Chibi Usa is around at this time, but I can't stand
the pink-haired soccer ball, so she will be staying in Crystal Tokyo.
Indefinitely.
Sailor Moon : Eclipse Saga
Chapter 3 : Come Together, Right Now...
Sunday. Often considered a day of relaxation. Sometimes
considered a day of peace. This particular Sunday offered neither for
a group of young women who were blessed -- or cursed, depending on
your view of it -- with great power to help preserve peace. And as it
has often been said before, with great power comes... well, you know.
The Inner Senshi were fighting a humanoid monstrosity, made of a
hard, black stone. Taking hints from their last battle, the Sailor
Warriors had immediately started combining their attacks to try to
inflict permanent damage against the creature. Venus and Mars'
combination, as well as the team-ups from Jupiter and Mercury, were
chipping off flakes from the thing, though they did little else.
Sailor Moon had launched her tiara with the others at times, though
the chips were barely any bigger.
"C'mon, guys, we have to pool all our powers if we wanna grab
lunch at some point." Usagi was falling more into the role of a
confident, if somewhat unfocused, leader. She tried her best, but at
heart, she was still just a sixteen year-old girl, hoping that she'd
have a normal life someday down the road.
The Senshi fell back, regrouping about fifty feet from the
creature. It simply stared at them, as they began to call forth their
respective powers. Mercury's visor picked up a sudden spike in
energy, but not soon enough to give her teammates warning as the
automaton shed its skin, sending shards of sharp obsidian flying at
them at high speed. They barely had time to start screaming, when the
larger pieces were obscured by a curtain of blue-white light.
"It's not a shower of roses, but I'll take it." Jupiter had
turned to look behind her, to try and see where Phoen and Sailor Sol
were. She was surprised to see Sol standing by herself, a slight
smile on her face, looking to where the other Senshi were gathered.
She extended the index finger of her right hand, gesturing for Makoto
to face back towards the monster. She nearly fell over backwards when
she found herself staring into Phoen's back.
"/Hmmm... looks like a golem. Secondary stone skin over metal
body. Somebody was either bored, or had a lot of time on their
hands./" The Guardian of Sailor Sol turned to Sailor Moon, allowing
for the Senshi to see him up close for the first time. His clothes,
which appeared to be a simple black T-shirt and jeans combination,
were absorbing the light around him. A black, leather, full-length
trenchcoat seemed to be a recent addition, as it cast a faint shadow
upon the ground behind Phoen. He gave a slight bow to the leader of
the Sailor Senshi before he addressed her. "Princess, how do you and
your companions fare?" His voice was barely audible, resonating deep
and gentle.
"Kinda reminds me of..." Jupiter had a slightly glassy look on
her face, the one her friends immediately recognized. Venus simply
shot her a look that said, "Don't" more forcefully than words could
express.
"Um, we're okay, I guess. Nice to finally--" Usagi felt herself
cut off as Phoen gave another short bow, and charged the animated
metal warrior. It unleashed a beam of scalding, black acid from its
mouth, which sent everyone scattering in different directions. Usagi,
suffering from one of her less-than-graceful moments, caught her foot
as she attempted to leap, and her right leg was badly burned from acid
that had leapt up from the splash point. The golem was set to fire
again, when a red rose streaked through the air, embedding itself in
its chest and knocking it back a few feet.
"Now that's more like it." Sailor Jupiter, along with the others
gathered there, looked to see the source of the rose. Tuxedo Kamen
stood atop a nearby lamppost, and hopped to the ground to engage the
creature on a more personal level. His injured leg, however, would
not accommodate the weight, and caused him to fall as he landed.
Phoen breathed a single word, though no one was close enough to
hear it. He then shouted something, though only Ami and Minako had
enough of a command of American to understand any of it. "/Sol, get
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen to a safe distance, then tend to their
wounds. I'll try to rally the other Senshi and get rid of this
thing./" He gestured quickly, and then two disks of light formed
under Mamoru and Usagi, and began to float towards Sailor Sol, who
leapt behind the wall she had been perched on. The remaining Senshi
turned to their mysterious ally, and were about to pelt him with
questions, when the golem regained their attention.
Charging towards them with great celerity, Jupiter found herself
on the receiving end of a slashing hand. The sharpened edges of the
automaton's fingers cut through her uniform, gouging a deep laceration
just below the collarbone. With the Senshi huddled together, it was
able to lash out and connect a powerful closed fist against Venus'
chin. Minako found herself flying through the air and into a parked
car. Her impact caused the side of the car to collapse inward,
shattering a few of her ribs in the process.
The golem brought its fist back to connect with Phoen, but the
Guardian blocked the maneuver with crossed arms, letting out an
audible grunt from the force of the impact. Grimacing with pain,
Phoen began to gather power, enveloping his clenched fists.
"/Okay, you miserable sonovabitch... my turn./"
The sound of ringing metal began to fill the ears of the Senshi
still able to stand on their own. Phoen's hands gained in brilliance
with each blow landed on the automaton, though there was minimal
visible damage. With sweat beginning to form on his brow, Phoen began
to lay in a continuous stream of body blows, releasing the built up
energy with a final uppercut to the jaw. As the golem sailed through
the air, it backflipped and landed on its feet, opening its maw to
release another stream of acid.
"The mouth! Shoot it in the mouth, now!"
As the vile substance flew forth towards the Guardian, it was met
by Jupiter's Sparkling Wide Pressure, Mercury's Shine Aqua Illusion,
and Mars' Burning Mandala. The combined attacks were holding back the
stream, though the acidic steam was starting to eat away the street
beneath all of them. Phoen added his own beam, straight down the
center, creating a focal point for the four attacks. The meld of
power formed a channel down the stream, burrowing into the head of the
golem, and causing it to explode. The acid, however, continued on
towards Phoen, washing over the front of his torso. His scream could
be heard by Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, who were being attended to
by Sailor Sol a kilometer and a half away. Had the nearby windows not
already been shattered, the Senshi in battle would have been covered
in glass.
Jupiter and Mercury sprinted to Phoen's side, to check on his
condition. Mars, recalling the image of Phoen after Beryl's attack in
the final days of the Moon Kingdom, decided to hang back in case she
had to bear witness to that again. Mercury's computer told her what
she would see before she reached Phoen: his torso had lost as much as
five layers of skin in some areas, and the acid was still eating
through more. Calling forth a very weak version of her Aqua Illusion,
she rinsed the rest of the deadly mess from the Guardian's body.
Jupiter met his eyes as she reached him, and watched as his left hers
to examine her. When he rejoined her gaze, she found that there was
mirth mixed with the pain in them.
"I remember you were a healthy girl, Jupiter, but do you honestly
think advertising it is such a good idea?"
Looking down, Makoto noticed that some of the acidic steam had
finished what the slashing hand did not. Her well-proportioned
breasts and toned stomach were exposed for all to see, though slightly
red from the damaging vapors. She quickly crossed her arms over her
chest, though her face began to flush the same color as her torso.
Ami suppressed a giggle, wondering how this man could endure such pain
and still crack a joke. She watched as he removed his trenchcoat and
offered it to her exposed teammate, which Jupiter put on with great
haste. Laying a hand on his shoulder, which had not been subjected to
the acid, Sailor Mercury decided to inquire as to his condition.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Me? Yeah. We'd better check on Sailor Venus, though. She could
have internal bleeding from that impact." Grunting, Phoen hauled
himself to his feet, and turned to see Sol already attending Minako.
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were walking towards them, though Mamoru
still sported a slight limp. As the battle-weary group approached
their comrades, a crowd began to gather to look upon the devastation.
Phoen raised his eyes to meet with those of Sailor Sol, and quickly
turned about as her eyes registered shock and fear.
The headless golem drove its fingers deep into the left shoulder
of the Guardian, raising back its free arm to deprive Phoen of his
head as well. A cry from Sol rang in Phoen's ears, and he braced for
the force of her attack as a dense, highly luminescent gold-white
sphere impacted into the chest of the golem.
"Stellar... Implosion!"
Upon impact, the sphere collapsed into nothingness, but released a
shockwave so powerful it reduced the automaton to dust. It also
caused Phoen to fall into a newly formed crater a meter and a half
deep. The Sailor Senshi were shocked to see that he suffered no ill
effects from the blast. Sol did not appear to fair as well, however,
and fainted where she stood. Blood still seeping from his shoulder,
Phoen dashed to her side and gently cradled his charge in his arms.
"How did you survive that?" Mercury was running several
calculations through her visor, and saw that Phoen's wounds were, in
fact, healing as a result of the discharge.
"I'll explain later, in more private surroundings. For now, let's
get out of here before the press arrives."
Nodding in assent, the eight warriors departed.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
"They've broken two of your toys. I should think you would be
upset." A female voice, sounding from a silhouette seated upon a
throne enveloped in shadow, spoke to a figure across what passed for a
room. No light sources were present, though several objects could be
detected within the shades of twilights and blacks. Her
conversational companion, engrossed in some form of activity upon a
table of sorts, never turned towards her, although his voice seemed to
carry in that direction.
"So what? After the first one, I stepped up the defensive
capabilities and intelligence. They had to put a bit more effort into
defeating the dual golem."
"True, but they were also three members short."
"No matter. Our revenge will be meted out soon, have no fear of
that. My latest... endeavor, will prove to be much more difficult to
defeat."
"And if that fails?"
For the first time, he looked towards her, with eyes glowing a
deep and menacing crimson. "Then I'll create something even I won't
be able to stop."
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Making sure no one was watching them, the Sailor Warriors and the
two Guardians made their way into Makoto's apartment. Sol had
regained consciousness during the trip, but was still too weak to
walk, let alone leap. This was no trouble for Phoen, since his
shoulder no longer retained any signs of injury. As the original
defenders of Tokyo began to undo their transformations, their new
allies remained in their enhanced forms. Taking note of this, Usagi
began in with questions that had been rattling around her head for
some time.
"So where we you guys when we faced off against Queen Beryl and
the Dark Kingdom the last time around?"
Phoen seemed to be taken somewhat aback at the outburst, which
concealed his initial shock at seeing Tuxedo Kamen turn into Mamoru
Chiba. He had an idea that they were one in the same after the other
Guardian's fall, but to see his suspicions confirmed so soon came as a
slight blow. Sol fielded the question quickly, her voice little more
than a whisper.
"We just became aware of our powers about three months ago... it
wasn't until, um... Phoen, you want to finish the story?" The Sailor
Warrior of Life and Love began blushing a deep rose, raising an
eyebrow from both Mako-chan and Minako. Back in her normal clothes,
Makoto tossed the trenchcoat back to Phoen.
"May as well... I guess we can trust you, since you were willing
to trust us with your identities." As Phoen and Sol reverted,
Mamoru's jaw dropped, while Ami simply nodded her blue tresses.
Heather and Xavier Darricon now stood before them, dressed in simple
jean and T-shirt combinations. Heather sported a white leather bomber
jacket for warmth and style, while the trenchcoat remained with
Xavier.
"Hi, Ami." Heather addressed her new friend, sporting a mildly
impish grin. "Let me guess, the American dialogue gave it away,
right?" Her legs were still a little unsteady, so she took a seat on
the couch.
"Pretty much, yes. That and your recent arrival seemed too much
of a coincidence."
Walking to stand beside Mamoru, Xavier clasped him on the back.
"How did you manage to limp out of the hospital on that broken leg
without them seeing you, anyway?"
"What, you never heard of using a window? It is how we got in
here, you know." Sailor Moon's Guardian shook his head slightly, as
he caught the change in Usagi's facial expression out of the corner of
his eye.
"How did you break your leg, and how did he know about it?"
"Usako, calm down. It was just an accident at the dojo."
"Technically, I was the one that broke your leg." Xavier took a
step back as Usagi came barreling towards him. He was starting to see
more of the characteristics of an effective leader that she
possessed... if only they wouldn't appear at such sporadic times.
Heather decided to physically step in before anything threatened to
strain their relationship with their new allies.
"Look, no permanent damage, and with my abilities, he should be
good as new in another day or two, provided he doesn't overexert
himself."
"Gee, thanks for talking about me like I'm not in the room."
Ami, Rei, and Minako watched the proceedings unfold before them.
Makoto had gone to get popcorn, quietly commenting that this would
probably be more entertaining than most movies. Not wanting the
dialogue to stop (especially with popcorn on the way), Rei decided to
field a question.
"Um, who are you guys, anyway?"
Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, Xavier answered. "Good
point. I'm Xavier Darricon, and this is my wife, Heather." Having
returned with a giant bowl full of popcorn, Makoto managed to spill
it, hot butter and all, into Rei's lap at the word 'wife'. This, of
course, caused Rei to jump up and start berating her friend, who was
completely ignoring her.
"You're... you're married?"
"Yeah. Why do you sound so shocked?" Xavier was mildly curious
as to where this line of questioning was going, though it was a good
way to avoid further inquiries from Usagi for the time being.
"You just look too..." Jupiter struggled for words to complete
the sentence, so Minako finished for her.
"...young to be married, right, Mako-chan?" An gentle elbow in
the ribs helped dislodge the lump in Makoto Kino's throat, allowing
her to respond.
"Um, yeah, that's it."
Heather decided to alter the subject before the conversation
turned too embarrassing for anyone. "Well, we've told you our names.
How about filling in the blanks on your side?"
Ami Mizuno, shrugging over the inedible popcorn, began the
introductions. "The blonde with the long pony-tails is Usagi Tsukino,
also known as Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity. The dark-haired
gentleman with her is Mamoru Chiba, AKA Tuxedo Kamen and Prince
Endymion." Pointing to her left, Ami continued.
"The other blonde is Sailor Venus, more commonly known as Minako
Aino. Our gracious and stuttering hostess is Sailor Jupiter, although
she prefers Makoto Kino among friends. The priestess of the raven
tresses, who stepped out to the bathroom to rid herself of popcorn and
hot butter, is Rei Hino, who aids us as Sailor Mars. I'm Ami Mizuno,
though sometimes I like to be called Sailor Mercury."
Turning directly towards Xavier, Ami continued. "And to get back
to the question I had asked you when the golem turned into little more
than atoms, how did you survive Sailor Sol's attack?"
Clearing his throat, Xavier began to answer. "I think it might
have something to do with the way we gained our powers. You see, we
were normal up until just after we were married."
Mamoru, wanting the others to know he was still in the room,
commented. "So, a few days after, you gained your abilities?"
Blushing again, Heather replied. "Um, more like a few hours."
After a few moments, everyone understood what Heather had
implied... except Usagi. "So, what happened?"
The Senshi collectively big-sweated as they wondered who would
offer an explanation to their clueless leader. Luckily, they were
saved as Mamoru pulled her close and whispered the answer in her ear.
As her eyes gained in size, Xavier and Heather found themselves
becoming more embarrassed to be in the room.
Rubbing the back of his head, Xavier continued. "That was
definitely a very unique honeymoon, if nothing else. Heather figured
out how to call her wand forth shortly thereafter, though we made
certain to test our skills in remote locations where people couldn't
find us. I have a few acres in Northern California, so we could
generally leap about without fear of discovery."
"Then we saw news reports from here about the Sailor Senshi, and
put two and two together. Xavier took a working vacation from his
job, and I transferred my class load here." Heather was becoming a
little unnerved at the fact that Usagi's eyes had still not diminished
yet, and moved to try and calm her down. The others failed to contain
their laughter as Usagi simply fell over onto her side. Thankfully,
that was enough to break her frozen state.
"Okay, okay, I get it. It's just a little..." She righted
herself into a seated Lotus position, pondering her next words. "No,
I take that back. It's a lot for me to handle, never having... you
know."
"A lot for you?" Xavier raised an eyebrow at the sixteen year-old
blonde seated on the floor. "Heather and I were both virgins. You
think we were expecting something like that? Sure, I'd heard some
couples talk about fireworks, but never blinding flashes of light
accompanying physical and metaphysical changes!"
Xavier's watch beeped three times in succession, and he looked
down at it with a scowl on his face. "Damn, I need to make a business
call in twenty minutes." Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a pen
and a business card. He hastily scribbled a number on the back, then
handed it to Usagi. "Here's the phone number of the apartment we're
renting. Give us a call when you have some free time, and we'll all
take in dinner. My treat."
Makoto and Minako high-fived each other, with the brunette making
an audible comment. "Yes, one more night I don't have to cook!"
This elicited a short, pleasant chuckle from Heather. "Sounds
familiar. I'd swear Xavier takes me out to eat just so he can avoid
cooking sometimes."
"I do like to get out of the kitchen once in awhile, you know.
That, and I haven't heard you complain about the restaurants we go to
yet." Xavier smirked, catching an acknowledging nod from Makoto in
the process.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go so you can make your phone call. Nice
meeting you all." The Darricons started towards the door, and Makoto,
ever the hostess, walked them out. As they started down the hallway,
Mako-chan closed the door behind her and jogged down to talk to them
briefly.
"Gomen. It's taken a lot to get used to the idea that, even as
Senshi, we can have romantic lives as well. Unfortunately, you two
are further proof it's almost impossible to do so outside the circle.
And we're out of available guys. Again."
Xavier gently clasped the brunette's shoulder. "Trust me, you
still have a few years before you need to worry about settling down.
College might offer some possibilities in the dating area, you know."
Makoto let a heavy sigh escape her lips. "College? And what do I
do if something starts to terrorize the world? Sit back and say to
myself, 'Well, you did your time as Sailor Jupiter. Let someone else
handle it.'?"
Heather gave the girl a gentle hug, holding her as she consoled
Makoto. "I wish I could say I've been where you are, but you've had
to mature at a much younger age because of your gift." She released
her new ally, then stepped back and slid an arm around the waist of
her husband. "Any time you feel like talking, though, we'll be here.
Get our number from Usagi, and call us. We've both had our share of
moments of emotional turmoil."
Xavier have Mako-chan a light peck on the cheek, then started back
down the hallway towards the elevator. He let his voice carry over
his shoulder as he looked back at her. "Odd, isn't it? Just when you
think the darkness might be overwhelming, there's this thin shaft of
light, promising hope."
Kino Makoto watched as they stepped into the elevator, then turned
to walk back to her apartment. She was a little startled to see Rei
standing at the doorway.
"We're all here for you, Makoto. Never forget that."
With those words spoken, Sailors Mars and Jupiter rejoined their
friends.
Most of the Senshi had left Kino Makoto's apartment shortly after
Xavier and Heather had, though Usagi and Mamoru stayed behind for a
moment. Mako-chan had asked for a copy of the number after she and
Rei-chan had come back in from the hallway. After writing it into an
address book Makoto handed her, Usagi turned the card over, curious as
to what company Xavier worked for. She suddenly wished she had paid
more attention in school.
"What is it, Usako?"
"Here. I can't understand it. Too much American." Usagi handed
the card towards Mamoru, but Makoto intercepted it. Her facial
expression changed from mild interest to slight annoyance as she read
several words she didn't understand.
"Never mind. Mamoru?"
Looking over the card, Chiba Mamoru caught himself wondering how
old Xavier was to hold this kind of job.
"Xavier Darricon. Supernova Industries. VP of Technological
Development."
"What exactly does that mean, Mamo-chan?"
"Truthfully, Usako, I'm not sure. Technological Development could
mean any of several things. Computers, tape recorders, televisions...
it's hard to say."
Makoto, giving it some thought, chimed in. "So he might work for
a company like Matsushita?"
"Possibly." Mamoru leaned on the arm of the sofa for support as
he stood, and quickly gained a hand from the two ladies present as
well. "We could always ask him about it at dinner."
"I suppose." Makoto walked to the door, amused by the mental
image of the tall, dark Mamoru leaning on the petite, blonde Usagi for
support and balance. "Well, be careful walking home. You never know
what you could run into out there."
"Sleep well, Mako-chan." Usagi went to wave goodbye, but Mamoru
started to list to one side. "I think we'll go to your place first,
Mamo-chan. I don't think you're in any shape to walk me home."
"Hai. Good night, Makoto."
Closing the door behind the couple, Makoto wandered into her
bathroom, stripping off her clothes. The skin on her torso where the
steam had eaten away her fuku was still a bright red. Turning on the
water, she considered a hot shower would be just what she needed
before sleep. Hopefully, in the morning, the discoloration would fade
from her accelerated Senshi healing.
Checking that the temperature was perfect, Sailor Jupiter stepped
beneath the cascading water, allowing the warm stream to wash away
the day's events.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
"/Morning, Samuel. So, what are the latest R&D projections on the
Sun Phoenix Project?/"
"/Very promising, but only if we can get approval from NASA and US
Air Command for testing of the low-orbit flight capabilities./"
"/Okay, I'll put in a few calls to my contacts at those offices.
Other than that, how soon can we do standard flight tests just to work
out any bugs in the PsychOS-controlled systems?/"
"/Actually, we got the permits this past Friday. Only condition
is that we can't leave United States Air Space yet./"
"/Great. Okay, run a few test flights and I'll see what I can do
to get international clearance, at least with Japan, through my
contacts. I'd like to get in a few flights myself. No sense running
unnecessary risks in killing a test pilot./"
"/Sure, why kill a test pilot when you can just kill the designer
and project supervisor? Heh. Okay, I'll give you a progress report
in two days./"
"/Okay, talk to you Tuesday./"
Pressing the 'End' button on his phone, Xavier collapsed onto the
bed he had been sitting on. Heather gave a small chuckle as she
watched him begin to reach for the bottle of Excedrin on the
nightstand.
"/I take it the call went well?/"
"/Oh, yeah, peachy. We still can't run a LEO test flight, and
there is huge opposition from the Department of Defense to even allow
us to continue construction. Since the bastards aren't funding us,
and they gave us full clearance to start, I don't see how they can
turn around and yank our permits now./"
"/Honey, think about this. American government. Synonymous with
the concept of changing its position on the same topic fifteen times
every six seconds./"
Rolling onto his stomach, Xavier looked at his wife, who was now
seated on a corner of the bed. "/Point taken. Ah well, Sam has a
handle on it for the most part, and I don't have to make any calls
until sometime after two in the morning tomorrow, so what's say we get
some sleep?/"
Sporting a devilish grin, Sailor Sol sauntered across the bed to
where her husband still lay. "/Who said I'd let you sleep?/"
"/I never thought I'd actually say this, but... I'm too tired to
make love to you./"
"/What, meaning you'd have enough energy to make love to someone
else?/" A look of faux-anger slid across Heather's features, knowing
she had him trapped. At least she thought so.
"/All depends, I guess. That Makoto girl seemed fairly interested
until she heard we were married./" Xavier caught the look change to
pure shock as he spoke, so he allowed himself an impish grin to let
her know he was joking. "/Maybe I could talk her into getting my
blood boiling./"
"/Well then, I'll just have to show you I can turn your blood to
steam, instead./"
Turning out the lights, Xavier prepared himself for a very
rejuvenating night.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Kindly direct all C&C to DruidicKnight@Juno.com. Send mail bombs
somewhere where they'll do the most good: Support@Microsoft.com. ;)