chouso@aur.alcatel.com
Mars Fire Ignite
by Soumitra Choudhury
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Chapter 2: The Assassin Awakens
The five men waited nervously in the darkened room they had
been ushered into. It disturbed them tremendously to be here, for they
prided themselves on being clean, innocent, and upstanding citizens, a
far-cry from their actual selves, which was riddled with greed and
deceit. Still, it was a testament to their foolish pride that they
squirmed in their seats now, waiting for their contact.
Just as their agitation grew to unbearable levels, they
realized suddenly that they were not alone. Seated in the shadows at
the far end of the table was someone, shrouded carefully in the
shadows. "You require my services," came a chillingly soft voice that
could freeze blood.
The five men glanced at each other, wondering who of them
would speak up. Finally, the man in the middle, a middle-aged lanky
man with a sniveling countenance, stood up and cleared his throat.
"We, we want you to, um, er..." he fumbled over his words, dreading
having to same it himself.
The voice interrupted. "You want me to kill someone. Is that
correct?" He didn't need an answer, for he already knew that was why
these men had shown up. He enjoyed, however, making his clients
fidget.
"Who, and why?" he continued flatly.
The lanky man looked to his comrades for support, but saw that
none was forthcoming. Swallowing hard, he tried to grow a backbone.
"Cole Gishumi," the man said loudly, defiantly, "and you don't need to
know why. That is not why we are paying you."
The ensuing silence notified the fool that he had perhaps
overstepped the bounds that had governed the encounter so far. The
slight rustle of wind on cloth was the only warning he had when he
realized that someone - or something - had landed on the table in
front of him. Suddenly, hands grabbed the lapels of his trench coat
and dragged him close to the assailant's face, an action that caused
the other men to slide away from the table hurriedly.
In the dim light, the lanky man could barely make out the
cloak enshrouded figure that held him with white gloved hands. A
darkly comic outfit in any other light, but the lanky man knew his
life hung every so slightly from a bare thread, an he knew this
because he could clear see the assailant's face, or rather, what
covered the assailant's face.
It was a plain, gleaming white porcelain mask. It had a nose,
but no mouth. Much more to the point, though, were the eye holes. The
eyes behind that mask were black, too black for mere darkness. Black
to stick your finger in an wonder in they would meet resistance, or
perhaps there was nothing. And floating in this nothing, in place of
pupils, were two scintillating violet gems that pierced you with a
gaze so hard, you wondered if perhaps they could see your soul, or
whatever passed for it.
Those two gems fixed themselves on the lanky man. "It is you
who has hired me. If you wish to continue with these preparations, you
will answer my inquiries. Otherwise I may not be able to do my job. Do
you understand?" The hideous voice seemed to emanate from the mask.
The victim nodded fiercely, eyes wide in terror, and the
assailant promptly let go. Leaping back, the figure landed quietly
back in his chair and once again took a seat. "Now then, why am I to
kill the owner of a highly successful electronics company?"
Regaining what little of his composure as he could, the lanky
man sat back down. "Mr. Gishumi is incapable of running the company,
and is slowly sending Gishumi Electronics into bankruptcy. As a board
of direct- er, a concerned employee, I believe it would be for the
best to have Mr. Gishumi removed from office."
The figure had not missed the slip of the tongue, and knew,
even before his client was finished, that he was lying. A glinting
object appeared in one hand from a fold in his cloak.
"Strike two."
There was a moment of whistling wind, and then something
thunked into the table just in front of the liar. Jumping back, the
fool saw that it was an eight-pointed steel shuriken, landing less
than an inch from the end of the table where he had been sitting just
a second ago.
The voice returned. "Don't bother continuing to say anything,
for I fear you will simply talk yourself to death." A quiet
chuckle. "You, the board of directors for Gishumi Electronics, want
the owner, 18 year old Cole Gishumi, assassinated, not because he is
doing a poor job, but because he owns such a successful company at
such a young age. None of you are satisfied with the wealth you are
making right now, and so, with the last company heir out of the way,
the business, I suspect, will be turned over to the greedy board of
directors - you."
More silence followed, as the five men shifted and squirmed,
feeling naked under the scrutiny of this assassin.
"I want $20 million up front, and $20 million more when the
company is yours.
The men almost exploded in outrage - almost - but then
remembered who they were talking to, and how much money they would
have when this was all over. Pulling out a briefcase, they placed it
on the table and opened it. "$20 million," the lanky man said
grudgingly, "but, you must kill him tonight."
The assassin mulled this over. "These things take time."
"No!" replied one of the other men, "It must be done
tonight. Cole will be receiving an award tonight. It must be done
there, in plain sight of everyone."
"This is highly unorthodox, and extremely dangerous," replied
the assassin matter-of-factly. Pondering this for a moment, he figured
out why this had to be done in this manner. He chuckled again, a sound
that sent shivers running up and down the directors' spines. "Very
well. I will kill the boy in plain sight of everyone so that they
cannot implicate you in the killing. However, I will need another $20
million up front."
Sheepish about having been discovered so easily, they pulled
out another briefcase, another $20 million.
What little light there was surrounding the assassin flickered
out. "Good day gentlemen. You will hear from me after the deed."
*****
Two months had passed since the accident at the mall, and Cole
and Rei's relationship blossomed nicely. Though they were not
officially dating (much to Serena's consternation), they spent a great
deal of time together. Cole eventually was introduced properly to the
other girls, and even met Darien. In fact, the two guys hit it off
rather well, probably because of the similarity of age.
Grandpa Hino didn't particularly enjoy the prospect of her
granddaughter hanging around with boys, but once he met Cole and saw
how loaded he was, Grandpa took a liking to him, though Rei always got
an earful whenever she went out with him . Deep inside, the old man
was happy that Rei had found such a well-to-do guy with such charm and
kindness, but that didn't stop him from making it uncomfortable for
Cole to visit Rei at the temple.
Summer vacation quickly fell away to the second year of high
school. It became something of a habit for Cole to pick Rei up to go
to school, but it was one he enjoyed. He was up early anyway. Rei
insisted that he not pick her up after school, though, for she usually
wanted to meet up with the girls to walk home, or float over to the
arcade, where he would drop by also.
*****
The girls were all situated in a booth at the soda shop,
Serena stuffing her face with a pizza.
"Gosh, Serena, how can you eat that whole thing all by
yourself?" Rei asked, sipping on her sundae.
"It's ... easy... Rei. All ... that studying ... " and the
rest was lost in a mouthful of pepperoni and cheese crust.
Lita sniffed disdainfully. "I can make better pizza than this
place," she mumbled to herself. Mina nudged her in the ribs and stuck
her tongue. Ami, of course, was trying to study for her calculus text
in two weeks.
"By the way, Rei," Serena said after washing down her pizza
with a root beer float, "where's Cole?" She grinned, expecting Rei to
blush, just like she did every time Cole's name was mentioned.
Rei, of course, blushed slightly. "He's getting his cast
removed."
"Oooo! That means he's going to ask you out finally!" Serena
was fairly jumping out of her seat, and caused her float to fall,
splashing all over Lita next to her.
"Serena!" the green-eyed tom boy yelled, scrambling for napkins
to herself off. The blond-haired leader sputtered over an apology, but
then cried, "Darien!" and crawled over Lita, then Mina, to get out of
the booth.
"Hey muffin," Darien replied, amused at her antics and trying
to pry her off from around his waist. "You seem to be in rare form
today."
Serena smiled sheepishly as she saw Lita and Mina, the latter
who was now sitting on the floor after being knocked off the booth,
flash her with stares of icy daggers. "He he, hey guys. It was an
accident."
Lita and Mina stood up and raised their claws as if to
strangle her.
Moving behind Darien, she whispered, "You'll protect me, won't
you muffin?"
Darien stepped aside, smiling. "Afraid not."
Screaming, Serena dashed out the soda shop, with the tall
brunette and the pretty blonde closely at her heels.
"So," Darien began after ordering a coke, "where's Cole?"
Ami grinned, looking up from her textbook to watch the growing
blush suffuse Rei's face once again. "He's getting his cast removed,"
Ami replied in her cute crystalline voice. "This was the topic of
discussion moments before you showed up."
"Ahh. So, why aren't you at the hospital with him?"
Rei gave him a quizzical look. "Why would I do that?"
"Well, I thought you guys were, you know..."
The dark-haired beauty narrowed her eyes dangerously. "No, I
don't know. Why don't you tell me."
Darien, shocked at Rei's hostility, glanced at Ami, who was
subtlely shaking her head in the negative. Shrugging nonchalantly,
Darien returned, "Nothing. It's none of my business."
Rei smiled maliciously. "Good. You're learning."
*****
The distinctive beep of a Ferrari horn behind her made Rei
turn around as she ascended the temple stairs. It was Cole of course,
looking chipper with no cast to hinder his movements anymore. vaulting
over the door (it was a convertible), he ran up the steps, grabbed Rei
in a hug, and twirled her around. Rei's laughter twinkled out like
silver bells to his ears.
"What was that for?" she asked after he had released her. She
wouldn't admit it to anyone, but that felt very good, to be held in
his arms.
"Why, because I have an arm again! I can do stuff again! I can
begin my fighting routines again, I can go to the bathroom normally
again, and," he paused here to look at her, "I can properly ask you to
be my date to the awards banquet on Friday."
She looked up at him, surprised, and then away, sweeping her
hair out of her face. "Um, what awards banquet?"
"Well, I'm supposed to get some award for best company or
something. I don't know, but apparently it's a big honor, and they'd
be disappointed if I didn't go. And I'd be disappointed if you didn't
go with me."
Rei nervously fumbled with her book bag, thinking how wonderful
it would be to go with him. And maybe I can wear that dress, she
thought happily. Still, he was so much older than her that she didn't
want to raise her hopes up unnecessarily. "Oh, come on, Cole. Surely
there's a line of gorgeous women who want you to take them. You
shouldn't feel like you need to take me." She carefully kept her eyes
off of him.
Shocked at this response, Cole mulled this over. He prided
himself on being able to read her like a book, and right now he
thought she was feeling insecure. Gently taking her chin in his hand,
he turned her around and raised her head so that their eyes met. "Lady
Rei, there is absolutely no one else I would rather take than you," he
whispered in a very serious tone so that she could not mistake him for
frivolity. Then, taking her hand in his, he kissed it lightly, and
bound off, calling back once, "I'll pick you up around 5 on Friday!"
and sped off.
Rei watched him leave, a soaring joy swarming up her
spine. Spinning on her heels. she ran into Grandpa, standing behind
her with a scowl on his face.
"Oh, er, hi Grandpa! I just got back from school," she
stammered.
"That wasn't that Cole boy, was it?" he asked, a tad bit
hostilely.
Rei shrugged, pretending nonchalance. "You know how it is when
your popular."
Grandpa Hino tried desperately to maintain the frown, but Rei
easily blew away his defenses with a peck on the cheek as she
continued past him and into the temple. Sighing, he followed her in,
mumbling, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
*****
Friday evening showed up more slowly than Rei could possibly
have imagined. All week she floated somewhere between cloud eight and
cloud nine, reminding herself occasionally that she didn't need to
raise her hopes so high. Of course, this was something she couldn't
keep from the rest of the girls, and so they had insisted being there
to help her get ready. It took a lot of wheedling on Serena's part,
but in the end, Rei got so tired of hearing her whine that she
consented. Besides, she had thought later on, it would be nice to be
the center of attention for once, rather than Serena and Darien. All
the girls had been eager, with the exception of Ami of course, but Ami
tagged along nonetheless. The blue-haired brain of the group had come
up with the only supporting argument for Rei.
"I think Rei will probably want to do this on her own, guys,"
Ami had said in her small, shy voice. Rei had been tremendously
grateful to her for that simple insight.
"Nonsense," Mina retorted, eyes gleaming with
excitement. Getting Rei ready for the date was something that was
right up the blonde's alley, and she wasn't going to miss the
opportunity for something as trivial as Rei's anxiety. "You're going
to need help with that dress and makeup and stuff, so you're
definitely going to need me there."
Rei narrowed her eyes to slits at the accidentally implied
insult, to which Mina had clamped a hand over her mouth and backed
away behind Lita.
"See, Rei? We just want to help this be the best date you've
ever been on," Serena tittered cheerfully.
"I can do all that on my own, meat ball head."
For once, Serena waved away the insult. Seeing that the fiery
priestess was going to be somewhat adamant about this, she did the
only other thing she could think of: she got down on her hands and
knees and begged. "Please, Rei? Please? Please?"
Rei turned to the other girls, her eyes silently pleading for
help, but Lita and Mina, in cruel humor, kneeled down themselves and
began begging themselves. Ami chuckled silently at the scene.
In the end, Rei had thrown up her arms in exasperation and had
said they could come help.
Now, she soaked luxuriantly in her tub, sighing away some of
her nervousness as Lita gave her a good head massage. The rest of the
girls were also on the bathroom, telling her what to do and what not
to do, but she wasn't paying too much attention. It felt really good
to just lie here...
"Rei!"
Startled, Rei jumped a little, splashing soapy water out. She
had drifted off, much to everyone's amusement. Serena waved her finger
back and forth. "Now, now Rei. None of that. We don't have time to
waste. He's going to be here in two hours."
"Serena's right," piped in Mina, "so how do you want your
hair?"
Rei blinked. "What's wrong with it down the way it usually
is?"
Lita shook her head. "No, that won't do at all. He ALWAYS sees
your hair down like that. It needs to be done up somehow."
Suddenly, the Shinto priestess got nervous all over
again. "But I didn't prepare to have my hair done!" she whined,
sounding considerably like Serena.
"That's why we forced you to be here with you. Now, wasn't
that a good idea?"
Rei grumbled something underneath her breath.
Ignoring her, Mina tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Let's see. A
French braid?"
Serena scrunched up her face in distaste.
"Okay," Mina continued, "how about a pony tail?"
"No, no, a pony tail is too informal and drab," Rei remarked,
and then screamed "Ouch!" as Lita whapped her on the head. "No
offense, Lita," she added meekly.
"Well, I think she should put her hair like I do," Serena said
innocently. All the girls stared at her for a bewildered moment, then
burst out into hysterical laughter, much to Serena's consternation.
"Okay, seriously," Mina began again, wiping away her tears of
laughter, "what other hair styles are there?"
Ami glanced up from the textbook she had been reading the
whole time. "What about putting it up in the traditional Japanese
form, wrapping it around those sticks that they used to do?"
Mina thought about this, eyeing Rei's head the whole time,
then burst into a smile. "That'll look great! Especially with that
dress!"
Serena nudged Ami in the ribs playfully. "Sticks?" she asked,
grinning.
Ami shrugged. "I don't know what they're called. As you can
tell, I'll never have any use for them." She fingered her short
blue-tinged hair, then went back to advanced chemistry.
About an hour later, they were gathered in Rei's room, the
owner of the room seated in front of her dresser and mirror with Lita
and Mina fussing over her silky locks, while Serena lounged in the bed
reading Rei's newest mangas and Ami studying in a chair. Serena was
waking the dead with her laughter.
Trying to ignore the ditz, Rei pointed to a few bottles of
essence. "Cherry blossoms, honey and tulips, or jasmine?"
"Honey and tulips," said Lita.
"Jasmine," said Mina, and the two glared at each other.
"Cherry blossoms," came Ami's crystalline voice from across
the room. That's what I think, Rei thought, spraying a bit under her
chin. "Alright, I'm going to get changed."
As Rei strolled into the bathroom with the shimmering dress,
Luna, who had been asleep on Rei's bed along with Artemis, roused
herself. "Do you girls think this is wise? What if you need her while
she's gone?"
Mina waved the questions aside. "This is Rei's moment,
Luna. Let's not spoil it with pessimism. Besides, we haven't seen any
trouble in a week."
Lita plopped down on the bed besides Serena. "Anyway, she'll
be with Cole, so she should be okay. With the amount of security that
will be at the banquet, she'll be fine."
Luna calmly licked her paw. "Still, it pains me that we'll be
vulnerable tonight without Rei, or Rei will be vulnerable without us."
At this, Serena perked up from the comics, having secret been
paying some attention. "You know, we could spy, er, keep a lookout in
the vicinity, just to make sure things go smoothly."
Ami groaned inwardly at this. "Isn't this a breach of
privacy?"
"No, no. We'll just stay out of sight."
"But how do we get in? We didn't get tickets, you know," Mina
inquired. Oh no, not Mina too! thought Ami.
Serena smirked slyly. "We girls didn't get invitations, but
the Sailor Scouts can go where they please."
Lita and Mina beamed happily, while Ami's face dropped into
her hands in despair. Luna frowned. "How are you justifying this,
Serena? You can't just transform into Sailor Moon and galavant around
town to spy on Rei."
"Oh, we're not going to galavant. We're just going to, er, um,
make sure Rei is safe by herself. After all, being with a big time
executive of a company like Cole is bound to bring some hoodlum." By
the cheerful way she had put it, it was clear Serena was stretching to
come up with a reason to spy on the date. Luckily, Ami found an out.
"Well, if you put it that way," Ami remarked absently, "then
every time you and Darien go out on a date, the rest of us should
trail you also... just to make sure you're alright, of course." Luna
could have hugged Ami.
Lita and Mina, knowing they were had, chuckled
slightly. Serena glared hard at her intelligent
nemesis-in-friend's-clothing. "You wouldn't."
Ami shrugged with that purely innocent look on her face, and
went back to advanced chemistry.
Miffed that her plan to spy on Rei had backfired, Serena
grabbed another manga and grumbled through it.
*****
An hour later from that, Cole came knocking at the temple's
door. He hoped Rei would answer it before her Grandfather did, seeing
as how he gave her such a hard time about him. He gave himself the once
over to make sure he look alright for the fortieth time.
He was dressed in a perfect black tuxedo, complete with a
cane, coattails, and red silk vest to match her dress. behind his back
he held a shimmering white rose to contrast with her dress and ebony
tresses.
The door swung open to reveal Lita and Mina, surprising
him. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Nice to see you too," replied Lita sarcastically. "Rei will
be out in a minute."
"I'm sorry. It's just that I wasn't expecting you guys to be
here also." Cole scratched his head nervously. Behind him, William
waited patiently outside of the limo that he was chauffeuring the
couple in. This brought a couple of stares from the girls, and Cole
smiled knowingly. "You know, one of these days, all of us are going to
have to go on a trip or something... my treat, of course."
The girls' eyes widened tremendously at that. "Really?" Mina
gaped.
"Sure, why not? It'll be fun. Discuss it with the other girls
and Darien, and then tell me what you guys want to do. It gets boring
taking all these vacations all by myself." That's got em, Cole thought
in amusement.
"If you guys are done, I think I have a banquet to attend,"
floated a soothing voice from within the temple.
Cole glanced over the Lita's shoulders, and promptly dropped
his mouth wide open. Rei was standing in the room, and looking more
ravishing than he had ever seen her to look before. The dress fit
perfectly, it's silk shimmering and darkening in the various light. It
came down to her ankles, and the slits down each side of the dress
showed a daring amount of leg, shapely and smooth as they were. The
top half was sleeveless, and the neck of the dress enclosed her throat
like a choker. It didn't take much make up at all to enhance Rei's
natural beauty: a bit of lipstick, a slight amount of blush, a tad of
mascara. And with her hair put up in the Japanese form around two hair
sticks of sandalwood, Cole found his breath literally swept away. As a
passing thought, ne noted with glee that she was wore the ruby
necklace, and he also noticed the long, elegant, red elbow gloves that
she had donned, and the small scarlet purse clamped tightly in one of
those hands.
Mina took one finger and pushed up on Cole's chin, shutting
his mouth.
Sinking to one knee, he held up the rose for Rei. "Ah, my Lady
Rei. There are simply no words in any language known to man to
describe the divinity I see before me. Please accept this woefully
poor attempt at an offering."
Blushing slightly, Rei took the rose with a chuckle. "You're
very sweet, Cole, but do mind getting up? This kneeling to me is very
disturbing."
Meanwhile, Luna rolled her eyes skyward, perched as she was on
Ami's shoulder. Serena, Lita, and Mina fairly melted into putty at
Cole's words, eyes full of hearts. "Aaaaaawwwwwwww" they breathed all
at once. Rei shot them an imperious look.
"Shall we go then?" Cole asked, offering his arm to her.
Rei graciously accepted, and they started out the door. Once
past the threshold, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "Oh,
and girls?" she directed towards the two blondes and the brunette, "If
I catch you spying on me, there won't be so much as a strand of hair
left for the police to find when I get through with you." Throwing a
sweet smile at them, she proceeded on to the limo with Cole.
William smiled down at the couple, and opened the door for
her. "It is very good to see you again, Miss Rei. You look quite
lovely."
Rei smiled back, being helped into the car by Cole. "Why,
thank you William."
Cole slid in on the other side. "Would you like anything to
drink?" He pointed to the small bar and refrigerator. "I took the
liberty to remove my typical stash of booze and liquor, and replaced
it with soft drinks and juices, though I do have a very nice fruity
wine." Rei could tell he was putting her on about the alcohol.
"Hmm, that's too bad. I like a good rum and coke every now and
then."
Cole blinked, surprised, causing Rei to fall into giggles.
*****
Ami stepped into her house, eager to get some work done. As
much fun as it was to help Rei out with her date, Ami found such
events pretty tedious and superficial. Then again, she thought wryly,
I've never been on a date myself. Shrugging noncommittally, she began
to make dinner for herself.
Knowing her mother was at the hospital, Ami took her dinner up
to her room, so she could eat while she worked. Pulling out a couple
of books and her computer, she started in one a program that would
help with some of the calculus. As the first forkful of spicy mandarin
chicken reached for her mouth, the computer began tracking something
out of the ordinary. Forgetting about dinner, Ami pulled the computer
close to analyze the situation. What she found shocked her, and she
tore out her communicator and buzzed Serena.
Serena, meanwhile, had fumed all the way home. "That no good
Rei! Always taking the fun out of everything! Is it too much to ask to
just see how their date is going?"
Luna, padding quietly behind her, sighed heavily. "Serena,
shouldn't you be past this phase by now? You are in high school,
after all."
The blonde girl grumbled something as they entered her
house. Inside, things were quiet. Serena's parents had gone out for
the evening, and her bratty
little brother Sammy had gone over to his friend's house.
"Yaah! I get the house to myself! I totally forgot! I should
call the girls and ask them to come over!" She picked up Luna and
twirled her around happily, then dropped her unceremoniously onto the
floor and ran to the kitchen. "But first, I'm hungry."
What's new, Luna thought maliciously as she shook her head to
stop the spinning of the room. Just then, the communicator started
beeping. Groaning at having been interrupted from her goal of a meal,
Serena answered it grudgingly. Ami's face, pale with worry, showed
up.
"Serena! Rei might be in trouble!"
"What?!" All thoughts of food were sublimated, giving way to a
wash of concern.
"Well, I was scanning with my computer to do some homework
when it picked up on a strange energy reading. It's coming from the
Convention Center where Cole's banquet is going to be held."
Serena gritted her teeth in frustration. "Stupid Negaverse!
Always putting-"
"No Serena," Ami interrupted, "it's not the Negaverse. It's
some energy signature I can't recognize. I think it might be magical."
Luna leaped up onto Serena's shoulder. "Magical? What do you
mean?"
"Well, the energy pattern is like none I seen before. It's
definitely not technologically based, but it's not dark energy from
the Negaverse either. Not totally, but it's something akin to the
energy of Tuxedo Mask!"
Serena gaped. "Tuxedo Mask? What's he doing at the banquet?"
Ami shook her head. "No, Tuxedo mask isn't at the
banquet. Something that has the same sort of energy as Tuxedo Mask is
at the banquet. Look, perhaps we should go to this ceremony after all
and check this out."
"Alright, I'll call Lita. You call Mina." The blonde leader
grinned maliciously for a moment. "Let's not tell Rei yet. This should
be a surprise."
The defender of Mercury closed her eyes in frustration. She
agreed that they didn't need to notify Rei quite yet, but not for the
same reason as Serena's. "Fine. We'll meet you there." She clicked
out.
Serena turned to Luna. "So, what do you make of all this,
Luna?"
The feline gave the cat equivalent to a shrug. "It's hard to
say with so little information, but I don't like the sound of
this. Surprises like these give me the chills."
Hugging the cat to her, Serena prepared to call Lita. These
little surprises gave her the chills too.
*****
As the sun descended far to the west, blanketing the city of
Tokyo with a collage of vibrant colors, a form darker than the growing
shadows silently made its way towards the Convention Center. With the
fluid grace of a dancer, it stalked carefully, avoiding the eyes of
the city folk. When it came time to cross major streets, heavily
trampled by the scurrying people, the form would stop. Watching for a
moment, as if looking for something, it would then step into a nearby
shadow and disappear utterly from sight, only to emerge from another
secluded patch of darkness across the street, and continue on its
stealthy way.
*****
As the limo approached the front of the huge Convention
Center, Cole groaned. "I hate this."
Rei glanced out the tinted windows. Crowded around the
entrance was a horde of reporters, waiting eagerly for the young
entrepreneur to show himself. "You don't much like being a
celebrity?"
"No," he mumbled. Then he smiled. "On the other hand, you're
going to knock them off their feet, they'll be so stunned."
Rei glanced back out the window, struggling vainly to
sublimate the excitement growing in her. This was something she
understood well, for she greatly enjoyed being in the
spotlight. Unlike other people, who floundered in nervousness, she
actually felt calmer and more composed when being the center of
attention. "Yes, this should be fun."
Across the street, on the roof of the five story office
building, a fully shrouded figure perched easily on the edge, gazing
down as Cole and Rei made their way through the throng of
reporters. Deep within the cowl of the hood, twin points of violet
light glowed like tinted candlelight.
With a slight swirl of the cloak, the assassin glided over to
a patch of shade, and vanished. The same assassin quickly made his way
across the roof of the Convention Center to the lone door that led
into the building.
Night had fully fallen by this time.
*****
The banquet had been fabulous. Hundreds of people had shown
up, all dressed in their finery, most hoping to outdo the others. A
good number of business leaders were present also, some who wanted to
set up deals with Cole. The young man would have none of that,
however. He was extremely pleased with himself for having brought Rei,
as she had taken the crowd by storm. With a regal refinery that
rivaled even the best of etiquette, she swept from person to person,
group to group, leaving a sense of wonder behind her wherever she went.
Though there were very few who were near her in age, Rei didn't seem
to mind. With a fine, rapacious wit, and stunning beauty that was
quickly making her the envy of the party, more than a few individuals
had come to Cole to congratulate him on such exquisite company.
Cole, for his part, enjoyed nothing less than to sit back and
watch his attractive friend. It did wonders for his well-being to know
that he hadn't drug Rei to some boring event that she would soon grow
tired at.
Moments later, she sidled up to him as he discussed some
technical jargon with the owner of Honda. Excusing himself, he led her
to their table. "So, Little Miss Social Butterfly, how are you
faring?"
"Well," she began, clasping onto his arm, "I haven't been to
one of these before, so I hope I'm not embarrassing you."
Cole gazed at her in shock. "What are you talking about?
You're the hit of the party! I think people have forgotten that they
came to see me accept an award because of you." He grinned at her
good-naturedly.
She blushed cutely, melting his already softened heart.
"Can we have everyone taking their seats please? We will begin
the award presentation soon," said the host, a finely dressed elder
man with blazing white hair.
"Well, this is it," Cole whispered to her as they sat down,
inhaling a large breath and letting it out slowly.
Rei gave him a puzzled look. "You're not nervous are you?"
He coughed slightly. "About getting an award? No. About giving
a speech? Yes."
She took one of his hands and squeezed it reassuringly. "You
will do wonderfully."
The attendees found their seats quickly enough, and the host
began a nice little introduction about the award and what it meant. He
threw out a few jokes, and the crowd tittered with polite laughter,
but eventually it all died down, and Cole was called up to receive his
award. He got up from his seat, then kissed Rei on the cheek as he
strolled up to the podium, leaving a bewildered girl at the table, her
hand slowly stroking the spot where he had placed his lips.
Suddenly, Rei felt the psychic emanations of evil that she had
diligently trained herself to detect. She glanced around the room,
searching, probing for the source. As large as the room was, however,
it didn't seem to be coming from inside. As a passing note, she
thought it odd how the table with the board of directors seated at it
seemed so uncomfortable.
Closing her eyes and canceling out Cole's speech, she tried
again to focus on the source. Her awareness slowly floated out,
reaching... reaching...
Her eyes snapped open, and she turned slowly towards the
windows of the control room up above on the back wall. It was dark in
there, but she trusted her psychic training more than her eyes.
A stirring simmer of rage began to boil steadily within her
as she stood up and carefully wove her way to the outside
hallway. Casting one last glance up at the windows of the control
room, she thought she could make out a pair of glowing purple points
of light, but she wasn't sure. Then she stepped out, and moved quickly
to a stairway, letting her hair down as she went. Sailor Mars doesn't
need her hair all bunched up one her head, she thought grimly.
*****
The assassin entered the control room, easily padding to the
window silently and in the darkness. He looked through it, and saw
his quarry immediately, walking calmly to the podium. Satisfied that
this wold be simpler than he had thought, he pulled out a small,
finely crafted wooden crossbow from within the folds of his
cloak. Pulling back the hood, he kneeled down to situate himself in
front of the window. Out of the corner of his jeweled eye, he saw the
beautiful dark-haired girl in the red dress leave the room, but
dismissed it as unimportant.
He pulled back the sleeve to the shroud on his left arm,
revealing the small, slim wooden box that was strapped to the
forearm. He unstrapped it, and opened it up, revealing three bolts,
each intricately made of steel and crystal. Carefully removing one,
he snapped the box shut and placed it to the side.
Slipping the bolt into place on the crossbow, he quietly slid
the window open. Calmly, coldly, he raised the weapon and laid careful
aim for the victim's heart. The poison in the bolt was needed to be
quickly distributed throughout the body to take maximum effect. The
poison would decrease the rate of the heartbeat slowly, until he died
in a few days. He rather enjoyed this method, because of the effect,
and the duration of the poison. As far as he knew, there was not
antidote. Cole Gishumi would simply begin to stop functioning, growing
weaker and weaker, until death claimed him. If the assassin could
smile, an evil grin would be plastered on his face.
A sudden sixth sense of danger warned him a split second
before the door to the control room crashed open. Standing in the
doorway was Sailor Mars, eyes glaring in anger. "Who are you and what
are you doing here?" she hissed viciously. She barely acknowledged the
crossbow that had twirled to point at her. On the other hand, she did
take a step back when she saw the glowing gemstone pupils and the
gleaming mask of porcelain.
"I have not the time for you, little girl," he threw back in a
crypt-like voice, and stretched out one arm, palm out. Another violet
glow, this in the form of a sphere the size of a baseball,
materialized. Mars dove sidelong, missing the shooting ball by mere
inches as it exploded into the wall behind her, showering her in
plaster and wood and leaving a hole bigger than herself.
Taking advantage of the delay, and noting the sudden confusion
that had overtaken the crowd at such an explosion, the assassin leaped
out the window, flipped a couple of times in midair, and landed nimbly
on a table, kneeling and aiming at Cole.
Cole, for his part, heard the explosion, and immediately his
thoughts went to Rei, who he had seen leave just a few minutes ago. He
meant to run out and look for her, when he saw the shrouded figure
twirling through the air and land on the table, a nasty looking
crossbow pointed at him.
"Who are you?" yelled Cole, taking up a defensive stance and
not expecting to be shot. After all, there were so many witnesses.
The trigger clicked. "Your death," came the reply, as a
shocked Cole looked down at the bolt protruding from his
chest. Suddenly, breathing became extremely difficult, and he
collapsed into a sitting position, still gazing bewildered at the bolt
in his chest.
*****
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
The assassin, and a number of other people twisted around to
see Sailor Mars perched on the edge of the window ledge of the control
room, ready to jump down. Her eyes were wide with terror, mouth gaping
open in a horrid scream of pain. She slipped from the perch, and
barely managed to land on her feet, slipping down to a knee
wobbly. Her eyes were fixed on Cole and his injury.
Three security guards ran into the room at all the
commotion. Pulling there guns, one of them cried "Freeze!"
Just as the guns trained themselves on the masked figure, the
assassin dropped the crossbow, flicked his right hand, and drew a pair
of slight curved Japanese short swords, or wakazashis, all in a few
fluid movements. Two of the guards dropped their guns and gurgled as
blood sprayed from their jugulars from the shurikens that had lodged
themselves in their throats. The third, unnerved at the amazing
quickness of the target, took a nervous step back.
Suddenly, the gemstone pupils flared brightly, scintillating
and vibrant. The lone guard paused, gazing deeply into those shifting,
colorful lights. The gun dropped slightly in its aim, and that was all
the killer needed.
He leaped forward into the air, and came down slashing right
in front of the guard. He stood there a moment to let the man figure
it out.
The guard wondered briefly why he couldn't fire the gun, until
the bursts of pain bombarded into him and he screamed hideously as
both his arms fell to the ground, cleanly severed at the shoulders.
The assassin calmly stepped over the bodies and was about to
make good his escape, when he glanced over his shoulder once to see
the carnage he had caused.
"STOP!" yelled a firm female voice, and he turned to it.
Sailor Mars, onyx orbs glinting coldly, stood resolutely ten
feet away. "You will die for this, murderer!" She clapped her hands
together and thrust out her index fingers at him.
"Mars..." a small flame sprang to life at the end of her
fingers.
"Fire..." the flame grew somewhat in size. The assassin
flicked his right arm again, and a shuriken flew unerringly towards
her.
"IGNITE!" The flame shot forward, the force of it changing the
steel star's direction slightly. Mars grunted in pain as it sliced
through her shoulder, digging until it thunked into her bone.
The assassin took the full brunt of the flaming attack,
sending him flying back, and crashing him into the next room's
wall. Surprisingly, though, he calmly raised himself up, and donned
the hood once again. He swept his left arm forward, and another violet
sphere of power soared towards Mars. This time, she hit the deck, and
it sailed over her head to explode into the buffet table on the far
end of the banquet room. When she raised her head, the assassin was
gone.
People were scrambling about in confusion, most trying to get
through the several exits. Ignoring them all, Mars struggled to her
feet. She glanced down at her shoulder, and grasped the protruding
part of the shuriken. She was bleeding profusely from the wound, and
she really needed to patch it up, but try as she might, all that came
out was a whimper of pain. The shuriken firmly held on to her bone.
Clutching at her shoulder in an effort to staunch the flow,
she stumbled weakly to the sitting form of Cole, and kneeled down next
to him. He still was staring dumbly at the bolt. Ever so gently, she
pushed him back until he lay upon the ground. It was a considerable
battle, but she forced herself not to burst into tears at the sight.
Slowly, Cole's gazed moved from the bolt to the beautiful
heroine. "Well, well," he mumbled, "this is quite an honor." He
coughed slightly, his face scrunching up in pain.
"Shhh, don't talk, help is on the way." Mars pulled out her
communicator , and beeped for the other scouts. Seconds later, Sailor
Moon's face showed up, awash with worry.
"Mars! Are you alright? Don't go anywhere. There's something
strange prowling around over there, or that's what Mercury told me."
Somewhere in the back of Mars' mind, she was proud that Serena had had
the sense to use their scout names.
"Yeah, I know already. Where are you guys?"
"We're a couple of blocks down."
Mars grimaced as another stream of agony slashed up and down
her wounded arm. Serena noted this, and worry turned into
near-panic. "Mars! You're hurt!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious," the fire child replied
sarcastically. "Send Mercury here as soon as you get here. the rest
of you should probably look for the assassin."
"Assassin?"
Mars collapsed a little bit. "Yeah. Black cloak. White
mask. Purple jewels for eyes. He stands out in a crowd."
Sailor Moon hesitated slightly, then nodded. "We'll get
him. mercury is on the way."
As an afterthought, for Mars' thoughts were jumbling
sporadically, she mumbled, "Be careful. He's extremely quick and very
deadly. He has some control over magical energies." Then she clicked
out.
"Sailor Mars, you're hurt."
She turned her attention back to the handsome young man before
her, and her eyes misted over a bit. She looked away to hide them form
him. "It's nothing. We Sailor Scouts are a lot tougher than we look."
Well, it's not too much of a lie. We ARE tougher.
Suddenly, Cole tried to sit up. "Rei! Rei might be hurt! I've
got to go find her!"
She held him down gently, tears flowing freely this
time. "Rei's fine. I ran into her before the fight, and made her get
to safety."
He relaxed considerably, his eyes struggling to stay
open. "I'm so tired. Do you... do you mind removing this thing from
me?"
Mars cringed slightly, but with a nod, she grasped the bolt
firmly and slid it out with a jerk. Cole hissed in pain, and covered
the hole in his chest as a gout of blood squirted out. "Thank you,
Lady Mars."
The room tilted nauseously, and Mars fell back, too weak to
sit up. Where's Mercury, she thought bitterly, realizing that this
weapon had to be removed quickly. She was getting extremely weak with
blood loss, but she couldn't go get help.
"You know," she heard Cole whisper, "you look... an
awful... lot... like my Rei."
Tears fell unbidden from her eyes at that. Her grief
threatened to engulf her at that moment. Thankfully, she slipped into
unconsciousness. With her weakened condition, however, Sailor Mars'
transformation reversed itself, and only Rei remained behind, her
dress quickly soaking up her blood, her hair splayed out beneath her.
Cole turned his head towards her, his own consciousness fading
quickly. His last thought was "Is that Rei?"
*****
Rei felt like she had been run through a meat grinder when her
consciousness returned. She could feel the dull booming throb of her
shoulder, but it was vastly more tolerable than the piercing screams
of agony that had characterized it before. Slowly opening her eyes,
she squinted at the bright sunlight streaming in through the hospital
room's window - HER hospital room's window. She groaned. I'm in a
hospital.
"Rei?"
She turned her head towards the voice, and saw Serena sitting
next to her bed, having pulled up a chair. Her eyes were red-rimmed
from crying, and she looked exhausted. This was a side of Serena Rei
was shocked to see."
"Hey there, meat ball head," Rei whispered back hoarsely,
smiling.
The blonde girl burst into sobbing fits, and Rei uncomfortably
stroked her hair with her good hand. "Come on, now. Stop that. I'm
fine."
Serena sniffled after a moment. "But you would have been
better had we shown up sooner." She wiped away her tears.
Rei waved the comment aside. "None of us could have known that
there was going to be powerful monster at Cole's..." her eyes
widened. "Where's Cole? Is he okay?"
Serena looked extremely uncomfortable at that. "Well, he's
here in the hospital too." She said it softly, and seemed to avoid the
real question. Rei feared the worst."
"He's okay isn't he?" Rei eyes took on a pleading look, trying
to will her friend to tell her that the young man was alright.
In all the time that she had known Rei, Serena had never seen
such anguish and despair in her usually composed friend. She had never
been the emotional type, a trait that Serena sometimes found herself
envying, the blonde having an overabundance of emotion. Rei prided
herself on being a rock, a firm foundation for the rest of the scouts.
Now, though, Serena saw fear, terror, and heart-wrenching
pain. Suddenly, all of the priestess' barriers were down in the blink
of an eye, and what was left was a scared little girl.
And because of this, Serena didn't have the heart to tell Rei
that Cole had slipped into a coma, and was dying.
She took Rei's hand into her own and patted it
companionably. "He's going to be fine, Rei. He'll be in the hospital
for a few days, but the bolt missed any vital organs." she smiled
beautifically for her friend's benefit. "Before long, you two will be
out on the town once again."
The grateful sigh told Serena that her lie had been
taken. "Now, you get some rest, and we'll come by later on to see how
your doing. Okay?"
Already, Rei's eyes glazed over tiredly as she
nodded. Releasing her hand, Serena quietly walked out of the room.
"Thank you... Serena," she heard behind her as she left.
In the waiting room, the rest of the scouts jumped in concern
as their leader stepped in and sank into a chair, exhaustion marking
her clearly.
"Is she going to be okay?" Mina asked hopefully.
Serena nodded. "Yes, but we have another problem." She told
them of the lie she had given Rei.
"Serena," Ami started, "Cole is being over come by a rare
poison. There isn't an antidote for it. What are you going to tell Rei
if he dies?"
"He's not going to die!" Serena returned forcefully. She
sighed softly. "You should have seen her face. She was so scared, it
broke my heart to have to tell her that he was dying. I really think
she's in love with him."
The scouts silently accepted this. Ami had been working on
analyzing the poison herself, but couldn't get anywhere. It frustrated
her that she was so helpless, even with her intelligence hard at work.
Serena came up with the only possible solution that might
work. The others didn't argue with it, and they didn't voice the one
thought that they all were thinking: if they weren't successful,
Sailor Mars would never forgive herself for not preventing Cole's
death.
*****
That night, Sailor Moon and the remaining scouts quietly
entered Cole's room. It had been an easy matter to bypass the security
placed around him, and Ami's computer was useful in calling away the
lone guard.
The EEG periodically beeped, maintaining its timing to the
beating of Cole's heart, but it was obviously much slower than it
should have been. Ami had managed to figure out that the poison was
slowing the body down, thus the decreased heart rate.
Cole breathed softly, with an oxygen mask over his face, IV
tubes inserted in his arms, and electrodes taped to his
head. Peacefully sleeping away in his coma, he had no idea the danger
he was in.
Sighing, Sailor Moon drew out the Silver Imperium Crystal from
her broach. Looking at each of the scouts for support, she closed her
eyes and concentrated on the healing power of the crystal. Instantly,
a pearly white glow merged from the stone, basking everyone in its
light. Stepping forward, she placed the crystal on Cole's chest, and
the battle began.
Sailor Moon almost wilted under the stress, so strong the
poison was, but she squared up her visage and fought. Slowly at first,
then with increasing speed, a sickly green mist exuded from Cole as
the poison was forced out of his body. Finally, no more mist
evaporated out, and the hole in Cole's chest began to close.
"No Sailor Moon," Mercury whispered sadly into her ear. "You
have to leave the wound, or the doctors will get suspicious."
Nodding in response, the blonde superheroine dampened the flow
of energy and shut off the crystal. Sailor Jupiter caught her just as
she began to collapse. The strain had been somewhat more than they had
thought it would be.
While Jupiter and Venus help support the grateful Sailor Moon,
Mercury checked Cole's pulse and read several of the machines, then
analyzed him with her own computer. After a few minutes, she looked up
at them and smiled, giving the thumbs up sign.
As nurses and doctors rushed into the young man's room, wonder
and amazement etched all over their features at the sudden recovery of
their patient, none of them noticed the curtains blowing faintly in
the wind created by the open window.
You know the disclaimers.
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