To Stand Alone
By Una Moonstar and Quicksilver
Disclaimers: Not ours, used only for fun, no profit.
Notes: Earlier parts are hosted at Aria�s Ink:
http://www.ariasink.com/
Happy Usa Day to members of the SMRFF list!!!
Feedback, is always, encouraged!
~*~*~*~
Chapter Four: The Importance of a Promise
Usagi waited until she was positive her parents were
asleep before climbing out the window. She landed on
the ground gracefully, and then changed into Sailor
Moon. Her instincts were screaming at her that there
was danger... and she needed to defeat it. The way the
red nijizuishou was glowing, she was betting that
there'd be another attack on one of the carriers...
the carrier of the orange crystal. She needed to
hurry if she wanted to get it- and incidentally save
the person who it was taken from.
A small voice in the back of her mind reminded of her
promise to Tuxedo Kamen, but she pushed it aside. If
he didn't get there, then he couldn't claim the
crystal, right? And if he did- well, she'd keep her
word. The hero always kept their word.
She smiled as she leapt up into the trees, and then
catapulted over onto the roof of a building. She'd
always wanted to run along the rooftops, and she
wondered if the noise she was making was waking anyone
up. She raced across them, taking the most direct
route as she felt pulled north, towards the edge of
the Juuban district.
When she finally felt she had reached her destination
she took a close look at her surroundings. Various
buildings dotted the landscape, and the whole campus
emoted a quiet feeling of contemplation. Yes, she had
definitely ended up at a school of some sort, although
she didn't think she'd heard of this one before.
Slipping over the wall, she quietly made her way to a
large fountain that was situated in the center of the
open area behind what she could only guess was the
residential area. It was a gorgeous statue of an angel
raising it arms and face to heaven in obvious
supplication, and it took her breath away. So much so,
in fact, that she almost missed the shadowed figure of
a young man seated on the far side of the flowing
water. He appeared to be deep in thought, letting the
moonlight that reflected on the falling water droplets
capture his gaze and drop him further into his
meditative state. Usagi was almost jealous of the calm
acceptance and determination she saw on his face,
wishing she could feel that way about what she did.
For she also saw a fierce joy behind it all, and that
was something she hadn't been able to find quite yet
inside herself.
Of course that was the moment the youma decided to
strike. The noise from the fountain covered the nasty
thing's arrival, and it took the both of them by
surprise. Usagi recoiled slightly from the bat-like
features of the creature's face, the orange scales
that served as its skin not making things any better
on the eyes. Drool continually dripped from its fangs
as it picked the student up from his seat on the lip
of the concrete structure, holding him above its head
and leering at the shocked heroine.
Usagi was about to go into a furious spiel when she
stopped short at the sight she was becoming a witness
to. The young man grabbed the silver cross that had
been hanging from his neck and folded both hands
around it. Muttered words reached the blonde girl's
ears, and she could feel a power building, a power she
felt sure would not do the monster any favors in the
health department. She started to smile, silently
cheering him on, the youma starting to get confused.
Her own power started to surge and reach out of its
own accord to assist, and when it brushed against the
slight glimmer that surrounded the young man Usagi
suddenly knew what he was doing. An exorcism! He was
doing an exorcism! And that explained where she was,
as well. The Christian seminary that missionaries had
built right after World War Two north of the city - of
course! She had never known it was so beautiful.
After the epiphany had passed, however, Usagi
realized she hadn't been able to help in time. The
youma roared, shaking its captive then throwing him
yards behind him, just missing a large tree trunk in
the process and interrupting the prayer that had
nearly come to a head. Sailor Moon snarled in
frustration and dashed forward to do what she had
originally intended - kick some monster butt. "All
right, hot shot!" she called out as it stomped over to
the fallen ministry student and placed a clawed hand
on each of his temples. "I'm not going to let you...
hurt... this innocent..."
Her words trailed off as the youma ignored her and an
orange glow began to surround both the attacker and
its victim, quickly becoming blinding. She just caught
sight of a red rose impaling itself in the ground at
the monster's feet as an ear-shattering scream filled
the air, for once too late to stop what had been
started. Usagi had to turn her face away to preserve
her sight, although she knew she wouldn't like what
she'd see when she turned back.
And she was right. When the glow finally died amidst
the horrific laughter of the scaled walking bat, Usagi
faced, instead of a peaceful, contemplative, and
*brave* young priest in training, a tall, hulking
beast with vulture-like talons, angel-like wings, red
silk shorts with a large bell where a belt buckle
would rest, and boxing gloves on each hand. The look
in the new player's eyes was homicidal, and she knew
who his first target would be. It was times like this
she wished she hadn't gotten out of bed in the
morning.
"Um.... Tuxedo Kamen?" she called. "Now would be a
very good time to do the hero bit and save the damsel
in distress!" she called.
The elegantly garbed hero appeared. "You consider
yourself a damsel?" he asked curiously as he summoned
his cane. He clutched one end and started off for
the original monster.
"Well, if it means you do the dirty work, I might
allow it!" She produced her wand and stared at the
monster.
The monster seemed to have gotten his bearings. "I
am Bokushi!" he announced grandly. "And you are the
first to feel the divine wrath of the Seven Shadows!"
His eyes narrowed and a pair of boxing gloves appeared
on his hands.
"Moon Healing-" she tried, but was stunned when one
of the boxing gloves flew off his hand at her and hit
her in the stomach, launching her backwards. She
flew hard into the nearby fountain, coughing as she
landing in the water.
Bokushi laughed and moved closer as she flailed
about, trying to get her bearings. "You have stolen
that which is the heart of my brother- I shall
retrieve it and restore him to his glory! Then the
world will know our wrath!!"
"Yada yada...." Sailor Moon said, sarcastically,
spitting out a mouthful of water that she had almost
swallowed. "The typical bad guy 'I am invincible'
speech- been there, heard it before," she said coming
to her feet and jumping out of the fountain.
She winced to herself as he boots made a squishing
noise, and wondered if her white bodysuit was as
revealing as she feared- getting white fabric wet was
always a bad idea if you valued modesty. Her blue
skirt clung to her legs, and she knew she probably
looked like a hentai anime heroine. "I'm going to
DESTROY you for this humiliation!" she said furiously.
Her yell distracted Tuxedo Kamen for a second from
his battle with the youma. He swallowed as he saw
his current ally's... predicament. "Down, boy- fight
first," he whispered, extending his cane to land a
blow in the youma's eye.
Usagi spared a quick look to see if her ally had
noticed the state of her uniform and saw the tip of
his cane nail his opponent in the eye, producing a
horrible shriek of pain and protest. Good, he was
busy. Now for the cause of all her mental misery...
"Okay, buster, you asked for it! Just remember that!"
Her forefinger and thumb pinched the gem in the center
of her tiara and pulled the item from her forehead,
immediately causing it to transform into a disc of
light. "Moon Tiara Action!" she cried.
Tuxedo Kamen's shock at the sound of the attack -
usually reserved for destroying an enemy instead of
saving it - provided an opening for the youma he had
faced off against. He barely managed to pull his
thoughts back to the matter at hand in time to parry a
nasty swipe of the claws, finding himself being driven
further and further back from the other battle. He
gritted his teeth in frustration and once again
pressed his attack. Maybe if he defeated this thing
quickly he could get back in time to save the feisty -
and wonderfully shaped - heroine if necessary. At the
very least he'd get another look.
Meanwhile, the attack went exactly as Usagi had hoped
it would. The glowing disc flew toward its target, and
Bokushi sent one of his flying boxing gloves to
intercept it. Using the distraction to her advantage,
she quickly powered up her main weapon and struck her
pose. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
Without another dive into the fountain to interrupt,
the attack went off successfully, bathing the vulture
silver and gold light and blinding flash. When it
faded, the seminary student stood there for a moment
then collapsed in an unconscious heap. Usagi took the
time to quickly take the young man's pulse and,
finding him alive with his heart beating strongly,
took off to find the orange crystal. She thought it
had shot off in an easterly direction...
Just as she had spotted the sparkle of orange in the
grass near the tree the youma had nearly thrown the
victim of the day into, Tuxedo Kamen obviously
defeated his opponent, if the wailing scream were any
indication. Usagi grabbed the crystal and turned to
double check the security of the area, ending up
facing the stiff form of her tuxedoed ally, his
red-lined cape flapping in the breeze. She gulped
audibly and reflexively squeezed the orange stone she
held, feeling pinned beneath a gaze she couldn't even
see.
He stared at her for a few moments more, not
realizing his intensity had frozen her to the spot she
now stood in, then shook his head in disgust and spun
to begin his retreat. He would *not* fight her for
them... not yet.
Usagi watched him begin to storm away and knew what
she had to do. It was what she had planned to do from
the beginning, after all. She ran after him, finally
catching up and grabbing his arm. The unexpected
gesture caught the man off-guard, and he nearly lost
his balance turning to face the person who had taken
hold of him. "We had a deal, remember?" she asked
breathlessly, giving him a small, shy smile. "And a
promise is a promise." She unclenched the gloved hand
at the end of the arm she had snagged and pressed the
orange crystal into it.
He gazed at her, confused. "But you had it... you
rushed over to get it before checking on me..."
"You can take care of yourself," Usagi said
dismissively. "And I wanted to make sure no other
nasties snuck up on us while we were busy and snatched
the prize. You just happened to get the better of the
hideous beast before I could get back."
A smile began to form on the formally dressed hero
now clutching the orange stone. "And you did a pretty
good job yourself. I thought you were going to kill
the carrier for a minute."
Usagi giggled. "I figured he was too quick for that,
so I used it as a distraction. Not even he was quick
enough to parry two nearly simultaneous attacks."
"Yeah, well, now that we're done here, we should get
going. I think I hear people coming out to investigate
the battle noises."
Usagi just caught a flash of midnight blues behind
the domino mask before they became opaque once again.
"I hear it too. Til next time then."
"Yeah." He was glad his mask hid his roving
once-over. "And you might want to hurry home, wherever
that is. A body like that in a sheer wet outfit like
that is bound to attract undesirables like bees to
honey, and I can't always be around to save you."
Usagi's jaw dropped. And things had been going so
well... "Look, you chauvinistic pig, if you are trying
to imply that I'm *always* a damsel in distress,
you've got another thing coming! And keep your eyes to
yourself! Do you think I *wanted* to get tossed in the
fountain? Do you think *I* picked the material my
outfit is made from? Do you think I am *enjoying* the
way this situation has made me look? NO! ON ALL
COUNTS, NO! Now leave me alone, you HENTAI!" She
stormed off, furious with the obviously hormone driven
pre-adolescent dweeb that was her only ally in the
fight against the Dark Kingdom. She must have done
*something* in a previous life to seriously piss off
fate to have this hand dealt to her. "And remember,"
she called back just before she cleared the outer wall
of the yard. "The next crystal is mine!"
When Usagi arrived at her house, it was after two
o�clock, which meant she'd have less then five hours
of sleep. She jumped into her window and
detransformed without another thought.... until she
felt the damp cotton of her pajamas clinging to her.
Apparently the person who had designed her Senshi
uniform hadn't thought to make it self-drying.
*
The next morning found her in a foul temper.
Luckily it was a Saturday, which meant no school- but
that also meant she'd have to be out patrolling, as
the attacks were more likely to occur in the
afternoon. She'd promised to eat breakfast with her
mother, which was the only reason she was getting up
that early on a weekend. Briefly she thought of
crawling back into bed after breakfast, but realized
that would be irresponsible.
Ten am found her leaving the house, dressed in a
pale-pink shirt and a short jeans-skirt, which showed
off her legs to their best advantage. The bows she
wrapped into her odango were more due to habit than
any particular concern for fashion. The Crown was
always the best place to go, due to its central
location in town. Afterwards she could check out the
park- plenty of people would be taking walks, as it
was a beautiful day.
The wind lifted her hair up and teased the long
strands playfully, but she was completely unaware how
attractive she looked as she finally entered the realm
of the Arcade. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes
shining as she caught sight of the Sailor Moon video
game. This time she couldn't resist- she slid into
the seat there and fed it a token, which she had
purchased on a previous visit.
To her surprise, the Sailor Moon figure actually used
a weapon the resembled her tiara. Unfortunately, the
games attack keys were placed awkwardly for her small
hands, and she quickly found herself losing all three
of her tries. She sighed and plunked down another
token- the game was named after her, so she should
master it!
She heard Motoki's pleasant laughter after she died
for the sixth time. "It's great to see you enjoying
a video game again, Usagi," he said softly, a serious
smile lighting his face. "I've been worried about
you."
"I've been worried about me, too," she confessed.
"I miss Naru."
He nodded. "The pain will never go away," he said,
"but in time it will get easier."
"Have you lost someone close?" she asked curiously.
"I mean, if it isn't prying to ask?"
He shook his head. "Just a grandfather I hardly
knew. No, it was Mamoru who told me that- he lost
both of his parents when he was younger."
Usagi spun in her seat once, unable to think of
anything to say aside from, "Oh."
Motoki changed the subject. "So are you a big
Sailor Moon fan? I heard the first TV episode is set
to premier tonight...."
Her sapphire blue eyes widened. "That's tonight? I
didn't even realize..."
"Tonight? The premier's tonight?" another voice asked
from behind the pair. The two blondes turned to find
Mamoru standing behind them with a thoughtful
expression on his face. "Maybe I can set up my VCR..."
Motoki smirked. "*You're* interested in a *kid's*
show, Mamoru? I never thought I'd see the day!"
"And one aimed at girls on top of that," Usagi added,
still distracted. She was wondering if could set her
own VCR. Well, get her dad to do it at any rate.
"Well," Mamoru began defensively, "with everything in
the news about this new hero, I figured I'd check out
the series and see if they get things right." A blush
was beginning to form on his cheeks.
"Sure, Mamoru," Motoki teased. "You just want to see
whoever they got to run around in that short skirt."
The blonde young man couldn't believe his words could
set his best friend blushing quite that hard or make
him widen his eyes that far. "I... I... I wouldn't say
that."
"What would you say, then?" Usagi asked, feeling
mischievous. She was still annoyed with Tuxedo
Kamen, and taking her anger out on Mamoru wouldn't be
such a bad thing. They both were annoying,
dark-haired, blue-eyed- WHA-
Usagi's mind blanked out as she almost made an
essential connection.
"I've seen her," he said. "The real Sailor Moon....
she was fighting in the park with Tuxedo Kamen-"
"-You saw her?" Usagi interrupted. She hadn't
remembered Mamoru being one of the people there, but
it was entirely possible that she had missed him.
"Yes. She fought well, I'm just waiting to see how
much TV screws her up- and Tuxedo Kamen. I heard
they're going to be making her 'gentler'," he said,
moving his fingers to indicate quotation marks.
"Don't I know it!" Usagi groaned, shaking her head.
"When I read the script I couldn't believe it. I mean,
really!"
Both males looked at her strangely. "When you read
the script?" Mamoru managed to ask.
"Oh, yeah. You guys wouldn't know. I tried out for
the TV show." Usagi laughed weakly, as the looks got
even stranger.
Suddenly Motoki's face cleared. "You did?" he asked
excitedly. "That's great, Usagi! You must be doing
better than I thought you were!"
It was Usagi's turn to blush. "Yeah, well, Umino
reminded me that life goes on. I figured I'd better
get on with it. Besides, it was kind of exciting." She
paused. "A youma attacked the studio actually. Right
after my audition."
"Really?" Mamoru asked. If Usagi didn't know better,
she would have sworn he already knew about that,
although the studio had done a wonderful job of
covering it up. She figured it had something to do
with their deal regarding her "sponsorship" - or lack
thereof - of the show.
"Yeah. And get this: the actor they've got playing
Tuxedo Kamen has a crush on him!" The petite blonde
burst out into a fit of giggles.
Motoki laughed, but Mamoru looked a little green
around the gills. "I refrain from any narcissism
jokes!" Motoki offered with a bow.
Usagi fluttered her eyelashes. "Oh, Tuxedo
Kamen-sama," she said, "save me!"
Mamoru surprised her by sweeping her off the stool
and over his shoulder. She yelped and put a hand on
her skirt, trying to keep it from riding up. "Put me
DOWN!" she demanded.
"I'm saving you like you asked, oh damsel!" he
replied.
Usagi squirmed. "MOTOKI!"
The blond bent over, clutching his ribcage as he
laughed. "I'm not getting involved in this one!" he
said. "I value my life!"
"I'll-" Mamoru said, and then set her down. The
danger sense he had was tingling, and he knew that
another crystal was on the verge of being revealed.
"I forgot I have to work on an essay," he said,
excusing himself and racing for the door.
Usagi gasped as the doors shut behind the fleeing
young man, feeling the same sensation unbeknownst to
Motoki. "Um, my mom wanted me home to help her
clean... the attic! Yeah, clean the attic..." Her
voice trailed off as she absently straightened her
skirt and followed after Mamoru.
Motoki shook his head and he gazed after the two.
"Those two are just plain crazy," he muttered.
"Entertaining, but nuts." He wandered back to the
counter to take care of some waiting customers,
chuckling the entire way.
It took five minutes for the two superheroes to
arrive at the park, and Sailor Moon groaned when she
saw the attack was already underway. Two
metallic-looking youma were stomping around,
terrifying the locals and, in general, being Evil Bad
Guys.
She noticed the yellow crystal on the ground, and
tried to decide what to do.... she always HAD a
problem prioritizing. "Which one of those is the
youma, and which one is the person?" she asked,
frustrated.
Before she could make a determination one of the
creatures took a deep breath and blew out a column of
flame at a younger couple with a little girl maybe
four or five years old. Frozen in place by her shock,
she could only watch as Tuxedo Kamen leapt over to the
family and shielded them with himself and his cape.
The caped and masked hero yelled with pain, but she
could see he had succeeded. The family survived to be
able to run away the next moment.
She felt her temper -never far beneath the surface
lately- rise at the sight of her ally's injury. "Ok,
I don't give a damn!" she said. She grabbed her
tiara and chucked it, but in her rage, she forgot the
important thing known as aiming.
Sailor Moon watched as the magical energy flew wildly
through the air. "Oh, shit," she swore, watching it
cut through a tree, narrowly miss a police officer
that was reporting on the scene, and knock a lamppost
over, "I should have been more careful."
"Concentrate, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Kamen ordered
roughly. "Think for a second!"
Normally she would have snapped at him for being
rude, but she could forgive him since he must have
been in considerable pain. "Fine!" She shut her
eyes, trying to figure out which had been the human.
Finally Usagi let loose with an explosive breath of
frustration. She wasn't feeling a pull either way; it
was like the strange attraction she was feeling for
the glittering yellow crystal lying in the grass
overwhelmed anything she might be able to pick up from
the two monsters in front of her. "Well," she muttered
ruefully, "that leaves only one option. Use the wand
on both and hope I pick the right one the first time."
She thrust out her hand and summoned the Moon Stick.
"Here goes nothing!"
Meanwhile, while Sailor Moon thought her way through
her latest dilemma, the two youma decided not to just
stand around waiting. One, the greener of them, was
tearing up trees and shrubs and throwing them at
random onlookers, most of who managed to dodge the
missiles. Those that didn't somehow managed to avoid
serious injury, and were helped away from the scene by
the policemen who stood ready to offer their
assistance if they could figure out what they could do
against such other-worldly threats.
The other, one of a more gold tint, seemed to be
looking for something or someone in particular. It
roared at the crowd, its glowing red eyes moving
methodically over the individuals who seemed incapable
of using common sense and hauling butt out of there.
Tuxedo Kamen looked over at Sailor Moon lost in
thought, and, while happy she wasn't just diving in
impulsively like she usually did, was impatiently
waiting for her to do *something*. He sighed as he
realized she needed to figure out *what* to do, and
dove to meet the first of the two creatures, since it
seemed to be the greatest threat to the innocents that
abounded.
Just as he blocked a small sapling with his cane,
Usagi began her attack maneuver. "Moon Healing
Escalation!" she cried, aiming for the gold metallic
creature that continued to stand still and roar at
anyone and everyone it saw. 'Hey,' she thought as she
justified her choice, 'if it's just going to stand
there, it deserves what it gets!'
The waves of light and energy washed over the
now-silent youma, and everyone was surprised to see it
just turn into a pile of dust and blow away in a gust
of wind on a particularly windless day. "Guess that
was the real youma," Usagi said with a shrug.
"Well, maybe you'd like to turn your attention over
here then?" Tuxedo Kamen called out sarcastically.
Sailor Moon turned her head and saw something she was
sure to remember for the rest of her life. The corners
of her mouth twitched upward involuntarily, and it was
only with the greatest of efforts that she reined in
the urge to collapse into gales of helpless laughter.
For there, in one of the larger trees that still
stood, hung her masked and caped ally. His singed cape
had been made into a large, make-shift diaper looking
garment, and the man now hung by the back of it from a
branch high in the old oak. The youma had gotten its
hands on the hero's cane, and was swinging at the
helpless Tuxedo Kamen like the man was a pi�ata. It
even had a torn strip of the cape tied around its
eyes.
That last fact was the only thing keeping Tuxedo
Kamen from having suffered any major injuries thus
far. Well, as long as you didn't count his pride. At
that point he could only be glad no one knew who he
really was. He'd never live it down. "Well, Sailor
Moon? Are you going to do something? Or do you need to
think about it some more?"
"No, no, that's okay," Usagi managed to reply as she
tried not to laugh. "I think I can manage this one."
She couldn't help but snicker a bit. She struck her
beginning pose, readying her Crescent Moon Wand. She
found she had to close her eyes before she started
however, or she never would have made it through
without losing it. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
Her sapphire blues cracked open as she felt the last
of the attack leave her and saw the final
transformation of the green-tinted monster into a
young five-year-old boy, who then flopped onto his
rear end and began to cry. Usagi blinked, unknowingly
copied by the man in the tree, and watched, stunned,
as a frantic man rushed forward out of the crowd and
gather the terrified child into his arms. A pair of
policemen led them away. "A child?" Usagi wondered out
loud. "That thing had been a child?"
"Well, it explains a few things," Tuxedo Kamen added
from his precarious position.
"What do you mean, that explains a few things?" she
demanded?"
He looked at her. "Next time I wave the stick and
YOU be the pi�ata," he answered dryly.
"Oh," she said, unable to think of a snappier
comeback. She went over to the yellow nijizuishou
and picked it up, turning reluctantly to him.
"Yes." He squirmed for a second. "It'd be nice if
you'd get me down before people find the courage to
come over to ask questions... or the fangirls show
up."
"Fangirls?" she asked in confusion.
"Fanboys in your case. Been on the web lately?" he
asked as she walked over to help him down.
"Um.... I'm not what you call computer literate," she
admitted. She studied the way he was tied up, amused
at the crude knots. It looked like a super-strong
Kindergarten child had tied him up. The knot would
be awkward to get out, but...
"There's a whole bunch of websites devoted to us-
we're celebrities. You have marriage proposals. I
have girls offering to bear my child... to start.
There's all sorts of wild theories about who we are.
And- what are you doing?" he demanded.
She grinned, holding her glowing tiara out. "I need
to get you down, don't I? Moon Tiara-"
"Not like THAT!"
"-ACTION!"
He went tumbling to the ground, wincing as he landed
awkwardly on his back. "That hurt," he informed her,
pointing to wear his tuxedo had been burned through.
"Sorry," she said. "I suppose we should be looking
for the green one next?" she said.
"It's the next color in the rainbow.... I'll let you
draw your own conclusion."
"I could smack you for that one!"
"Ah, ah, ah," Kamen said tauntingly, wagging his
finger in the heroine's face. "Next time *you're* the
pi�ata, remember? But until next time, farewell!" The
caped man bounded off away from the crowd, only his
echoing laughter lingering behind.
"Ooooo!" Usagi fumed. "I think I really *am* going to
smack him!" She thrust the yellow crystal into her
extra-dimensional pocket and made her own rapid exit.
END PART 4
=====
It would be nice if we could
put away and throw out
everything except what really mattered
but reality is just cruel.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quicksilver/
http://www.midnightrevolution.org/gundam
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