The basis of the physics project was on the effect
of friction, and what would happen in a frictionless environment.
Ami Mizuno carefully walked down the empty halls of the school, pondering
how to adequately explain this topic. The school year had yet to
start, but she was already on her first project. An extra credit
project.
She wondered where the rest of her group was. She
and three other students were working on this with her, though she had
ended up doing most of the work. They had only wanted her because they
knew Ami would get them a high grade. Ami turned and walked down
another hall, searching for her lazy friends.
In the auditorium sat an older, balding man known as Lazarus
Leonard. He sat, cringing at a small pain hanging in his chest.
Horrible visions manifested within his dreams, but now they appeared in
the middle of the day. Horrible visions or dreams appeared before
his eyes, and he felt himself twisting violently in the air, but he knew
he was still in his seat. Mr. Leonard shook his head to clear it,
but now he had a sinking suspicion something was wrong. The other
students hadn't showed up yet.
Finally, the pain momentarily cleared as a blue-haired
girl appeared through the large double doors in the distance. However,
Mr. Leonard couldn't even see half that distance. He peered into
the auditorium towards the sound of opening doors, but he still couldn't
see.
"Mr. Leonard... what are you doing here?"
Ami's soft voice came through the air towards the sickly
looking man. He tried to speak but couldn't.
You have been created for a specific purpose...
'But for what,' the aging man wondered. Mr.
Leonard had no idea of his identity. Instead, he had a primordial
urge to convince others that he was a teacher. But why?
"Mr. Leonard, are you OK."
"I'm fine. What are you here for?" His voice
was harsh. Quickly, he turned his back to Ami. Suddenly, an
aura of pure energy erupted, encircling him. He became one with the
energy and suddenly, he realized who he was.
He was a monster.
Ami shrieked in horror as a veil lifted away from Mr.
Leonard. From underneath the veil, the true guise was revealed.
Wing-like claws became apparent from the true creature's body. The stony
complexion slowly turned to gray hard stone. Ami stared as a stone
gargoyle glared at her through bright red eyes, and took to the air.
From out of nowhere, Mr. Leonard had suddenly changed into a terrifying
creature.
Suddenly a voice in her head screamed at her to
do something. Instincts took over.
"Mercury Star... Power!"
The gargoyle circled, fascinated by a dull light
show. Suddenly, from within the light stood the same girl, in different
clothes. Ami was a Sailor Scout, known simply as Sailor Mercury.
The newly created gargoyle took no heed. All
rational thought had left it as soon as the persona known as Mr. Leonard
evaporated. Instead, it swooped down and knocked her aside.
A deep roar echoed from the creature, and it drew in a breath. Ami
cringed.
"Mercury Bubble Blast!" Ami yelled. Pure mania
flowed through her and weakened her while simultaneously fogging the room
over. While the gargoyle attempted to find the magic wielding girl,
Ami took cover in a side office.
You must take the life energy from living things
and give it to me...
The creature once known as Lazarus Leonard stumbled
about in the fog, trying to find its first source of life energy, a young
blue-haired girl.
In another room, Ami was viciously searching for
a small hand-held device. Opening it, she hit a button and an image
appeared.
"Hello," said the voice of a blond, pig-tailed girl
of about the same age as Ami.
In a hurried voice, Ami whispered, "Come to the
school auditorium quickly... another creature!"
The sleepy girl nodded and disappeared.
Breath blew the fog away. Ami could see the
creature slowly searching her out, and prepared herself to meet it.
Soon, it came to the door and opened it.
The creature saw her as she saw the creature.
Before she could do anything, the gargoyle ran forward and struck her,
leaving a large mark on her shoulder. She decided to run. Flipping
a chair in the way, she went out of the door and shut it behind her.
The creature was on her tail in a flash. 'Where
is everybody,' Ami thought, wishing that there were some more people around.
Seeing an emergency exit, she decided to make an escape.
"Wait 15 seconds..." Ami, said out loud, reading
a notice on the door. The gargoyle, expecting her to go out the door
but not understanding why she had stayed there flew towards her to quickly
to stop. Ami tried to dodge the living projectile but only managed
to duck, getting smacked hard on the head and bouncing off a wall.
She struggled to look up, only to see that the gargoyle had broken right
through the door. She was too dazed to move, and suddenly felt very
ill. Her days seemed numbered.
The gargoyle slowly approached its victim.
The life energy of this little girl seemed enormous. It raised itself
to a height exceeding that of the door it had passed through, tensing its
claws for a single killing blow.
Suddenly, a strange green light no bigger than a
pen whistled through the air. The creature looked at it just in time
to see it connect into its chest. The kinetic force behind the green
light was not very strong, but the creature winced as if the light had
more power than mere momentum.
Ami was no longer on the ground, but instead in
a corner, preparing to release another attack while the creature was occupied.
Spying a figure down the hall, she dropped her jaw, mostly in surprise.
She accidentally lost her charge as the energy slipped from her grasp.
Down the hall was the strangest little boy she had ever seen.
The boy was definitely several years younger than
Ami was, maybe thirteen or fourteen Sailor Mercury couldn't be sure.
Noticing her gaze, the boy threw a glistening cape around his shoulders,
revealing a hand holding a strange gun that was both sleek and small.
His face was featureless from the distance Sailor Mercury was at.
Enjoying the attention of a pretty young girl and
a stony looking gargoyle, the boy boasted proudly, "I am the Lucent Knight,
defender of the defenseless, the speck of light that protects from the
darkening hoard. Why don't you handle this one, since you seemed
to have some sort of magic," questioned the boy. She couldn't believe
it. The boy was barely older then she was.
The boy took careful aim at the creature as it charged
at him, annoyed at the loud sounds the boy was making. It also wanted
to take the gun. It seemed full of energy.
Ami ran at the creature from behind, hoping to surprise
it. Instead, the boy simply ran forward and pointed his gun at the
creature. A bright but small flash erupted from the 'gun' as a green
light arched through the air, defying gravity as it smacked the creature
in the head. It fell to the ground. Ami saw that it was moving,
preparing to get up.
"All things will explain themselves, in time." The
small boy said, exiting down the hallway from whence he came.
Ami thought about that while she charged her hands
with a glowing blue ball of energy that materialized into a bright blue
orb. She screamed "Mercury... Ice Bubbles.... FREEZE!"
The blast hit the creature full in the back.
It was surprised and confused. It was in pain. Was that green
stuff blood that came down its back in waves? Ami didn't want to
know. She avoided looking at it.
The creature slowly closed its eyes, as it became
darker and darker, eventually fading away into nothingness, leaving naught
but a dark crystal behind. Ami slowly felt her mystical suit leaving
her. Instead of a skirt and sailor suit, she again had on a full
blue dress. She slowly fell to the ground, feeling something come
out in waves from the spot where the creature had died. Her thoughts
slowly went numb while she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Hello," said the cheerful voice of Laura.
Ami's mother was taking a fresh new pie to their
new neighbors. Ami's apartment was near the corner of the building.
It was large by most people's standards, but the one where the boy was
moving was huge. It encompassed a large corner of the building and
a full four or five other apartment rooms where no walls were built to
divide them into separate areas. Apparently, the new occupants were
going to live in their rather spacious, if somewhat oblong, new quarters.
A young boy older than Ami gladly accepted the pie.
He rubbed his face of some sweat and pushed back his short black hair.
He was dressed in some rather cheap looking clothes, covered in various
icky things from moving heavy crates, and wasn't getting much help from
the two grown men. Apparently, he was moving some rather heavy items
into his apartment. By the looks of it, he wasn't very strong.
But he managed well.
"Thanks," he said. It was a small pie, and
he immediately took a bite. His face lit up as he put his backpack
down and began to eat about half the pie. Leaving the rest for a
friend of his, he decided that he would instead direct one of the two men
on where to put crates.
"Would you like some help," Laura asked sweetly.
"I know that there is a lot of stuff to do," she motioned to the piles
of crates around the hallway. "Ami, why don't we help with this stuff?"
The young boy waved his hand. "No need, these
boxes are too heavy, and I can handle it anyway..."
"Oh, it's no problem." Laura went over to
pick up a small crate and lifted. The crate didn't move. Ami
came over to help, but between the both of them, they couldn't budge it.
Ami was tempted to peek in to see what was in it, but digressed.
Laura had the same idea, but didn't show it.
In a second, the two burly men who were aiding the
young boy left, angry. "We weren't paid to move no anvils!
Whatcha' got in here, boy? This has gotta weigh a' least 200 pounds."
The boy pouted. "Fine! I don't need
your help." He picked up the crate that Ami and Laura were attempting
to get a moment before without so much as a struggle and brought it in.
"Sorry, I can't really talk. I'm really tired
and I want to get somewhere to sleep before it gets too late," the young
boy said. He tossed the crate into a corner before getting another
crate. This one was just as heavy as the first. Ami was puzzled.
The boy wasn't weak looking, but he wasn't struggling, either. She
attempted to pick up some other boxes, but to no avail. She did manage
to get a long crate that was at least nine feet long. It didn't weigh
much more than ten or twelve pounds. Happily, she aided the boy put
stuff away.
"Thanks. Look, I don't want to bother you
two, so I'll just get this stuff ready for bed. I've really traveled
and I can't stay up, so if you'll please excuse me... by the way, I'm Nick."
He leaned forward and took the woman's hand and
gave it a weary shake. He did the same with Ami's and gave her a
sly grin. "Hello. So, who are you?"
"Ami," she answered simply. For some reason,
she really liked this young boy.
"Well, nice to meet you."
"Thanks for talking to me, and showing me around.
I really don't know too many, no, no one, around here."
It had been two weeks since Ami had met Nick.
She had been showing him around town. In addition, both her and her
mother offered to help with setting up his room, but he said that he'd
rather do it himself.
Nick fell into Ami's couch, somewhat tired from
the long day out. She had shown him all he needed to know, and was
thankful.
"Would you like a drink?"
Ami already knew the answer. "No thanks, I'll
just get something of mine when I get home."
And Ami and her mother always knew when he got home,
because he had to slam his body into the door to get it to open.
Apparently, he had installed some sort of anti-theft system onto his doors
and windows. The problem was that the door would stick. Windows,
she had asked. You put something on windows? It was, after
all, the eighth floor. He had only grinned sheepishly.
And something else was bothering Ami. Apparently,
Nick lived alone. At least, for the first week. The next week
a new person came by, apparently his younger brother. This was strange,
since he was only 16, but Ami didn't pry. After all, Lita was living
alone, and her parents died in a plane crash. Maybe she shouldn't
risk hurting feelings.
However, Ami knew what was troubling Lita.
Nick was annoying her. He always was popping in and visiting her.
Mina teased, "He likes you, Ami," but that wasn't it. Whenever she
asked to go see his room, he would duck out and say something like, "Oh,
it's a mess, you don't wanna see that," or something similar. And
she always left it at that.
By this time, however, he had a whole new wardrobe
and was wearing some fine clothes that seemed to glow. His body was
dressed with fine and handsome items, in some sort of material that she
hadn't recognized.
He also appeared to be richer than he was letting
off. On his hands were two rings. One was a finely etched silver
ring. The other was a diamond ring. But not a diamond set on
top of ring, but literally, a diamond ring.
The ring was elegantly cut, reflecting very little
light from its sharp edges. It was diamond, or so he said.
It was also perfectly cut to fit his finger. The colors varied in
a range of every single beautiful color Ami had ever seen. The pattern
swirled mystically around the center of the ring, which stared out to the
world with a bright center. Ami thought it must be worth a fortune.
A whole fortune. She never asked though.
This had been her final touring day and the temple
was her last stop. Not only did Nick see all that was there to see;
it also coincided with some Scout business, so instead of going straight
home, she brought him there.
Introductions had been easy. He simply smiled
at each lovely girl and they smiled back.
"So, you're Nicky. Ami has told us so much
about you!"
Ami had wanted to kill Mina. Luckily, he didn't
notice the clenched fists.
"Yah, well, I live next door. She's been showing
me around."
"Did you two go out to eat yet?"
Ami now wanted to kill Lita. It turned out,
however, she wasn't teasing her like Mina, but instead anxious to test
out a new recipe, which he was all too willing to try.
"You're in for a treat. It needs to simmer
for a minute or two more, so just wait here."
They all sat down in the fire room, minus Lita,
who fetched them a lovely meal. It was eaten with gusto. While eating,
the curious girls asked a couple friendly questions towards him.
Luckily, Mina only said one or two subtle hints about going out with Ami,
but he didn't even notice and simply answered them with a word or two.
He did duck several questions relating to his house. Then Raye blabbed,
"So, who do you live with?"
Ami had never wished so bad that she hadn't told
her friend something. It had just never come up, and she had never
gotten the nerve to ask him herself.
Luckily, there was no crying or pained expression.
Instead, he just answered simply, "By myself, but my younger brother comes
up there occasionally."
Lita made a sad face. "You live alone, too?
I live alone, and it gets awfully lonely."
He grinned. "Aw, that's too bad. Maybe
I can visit you, help with the housework, or something... I know that I
get a headache everyday from all that I have to alone..."
Her face took on a silly, smiling countenance.
"Thanks. Maybe I could get you something to eat... what do you eat?"
"Oh, I get by... I'm a master chef. If you
visit sometime, I could cook you a wonderful meal."
Lita's eyes lighted up, and suddenly, Ami sensed
tension in her new friend. It was as if he knew he had said something
wrong. Apparently, he was pretty adamant about avoiding people in
his house. No one else seemed to notice, though.
"You must get awfully lonely... maybe I will...
tomorrow!"
Ami, with her in-depth knowledge of her friend whom
she had spent the better half of the past two weeks, recognized the slight
smile across his lips. He was nervous.
Lita proclaimed loudly, "...and I'll cook you dinner
sometime, too!"
If she didn't know him better, she would have believed
the young boy's next words.
"Um... I'm really sorry, but I have to do some things
later tomorrow, and I probably won't be home..."
Lita was particularly adamant. "The next day?"
"Um, I'll tell you when I'm not busy, I'll call
or something, Ok?"
This pleased Lita enough. "Ok. I just
hope you find someone to spend your time with so you're not lonely..."
Ami thought she was making a subtle pass at him,
until she gave a little wink in Ami's direction. Luckily, Nick was
silently rejoicing that he didn't have to show anyone his room. What
was in there, Ami wondered.
Apparently wanting to avoid further questioning,
the boy stood up and asked, "Got anything to drink... I'm dying of thirst."
Raye pointed to the kitchen. "Help yourself.
The kitchen's thattaway."
He exited the room. A draft had blown in from
the other room, since the magic fire in the center of the room seemed to
blow down a bit. Strangely, it didn't brighten back up. And
it was a magic fire... strange...
The girls let Nick go on his way back home and talked
about some Scout business, but Ami couldn't help but to wonder about her
new neighbor. Something wasn't right. And it all could be answered
if she could just get into his room...
"You OK?" Ami looked up at her mom. What
was she doing here? "You were hurt at school. Hit your head
on something. Pretty lucky..."
Ami recalled the amount of pain that had surged
through her. She didn't feel lucky.
"Where am I?" Ami still couldn't see very clearly.
Boy, that had hurt worse than anything she had recently felt had.
Or ever felt... come to think of it...
"You're home. Are you well enough to run and
see your friends at the shrine later today?"
"They called?"
Laura nodded. "Yeah, it appears that someone
checked on you and fixed that bump on your head. I took you home.
The doctors say that you'll be fine. You're very lucky, darling.
Now, I have to run." She kissed Ami's forehead. "Be good, and don't stay
out late. Order some pizza later or something, Ok? There's
twenty dollars on the fridge. Now, I have to be going," she motioned
towards the fridge before exiting the apartment.
As Ami's mom walked out, she hopped out of bed and
called Raye.
"Yes Ami." Raye said over the phone.
"What happened?"
"You toasted that monster good! You got it
before Serena even woke up!"
"Oh... did you see anyone else there?" Ami asked,
carefully recalling the Lucent Knight. What an odd name! He
seemed to be a young kid, not a knight.
"No, just you, and this dark green stone.
Luna and Artemis are looking it over right now." Raye remarked. The
entirety of the team was there, short of Ami. It was rather odd.
She was usually there before the rest. In the background, Ami could
make out Serena napping.
"What! Without me? I'll be there in a minute."
She was out of bed, changed, and a little dizzy,
went to the shrine.
"Luna, what is that stone?" Artemis asked the black
cat. Artemis sniffed at it, then pawed it. The thing emitted
no energy, but he knew it was dangerous. Wow, how ever did Mercury
kill this thing on her own?
"Artemis, I don't know. This is some sort
of summoning, it draws in so much energy... then out of nowhere," Luna
enunciated her words, nodding. "...Comes a creature."
"Wow, any knowing what it was?"
"Most likely something that didn't like water, otherwise
I doubt Mercury could've killed it." Luna said, thinking about how poorly
Serena's response time was. What if... Luna wouldn't even think of
it. She had already given Serena a good lecture.
Mina sighed, doodling a heart on her notebook.
She drew a small arrow piercing through it. "So... what happened
to your school Serena?"
The blonde haired girl twirled one of her pigtails
around her hand. "The explosion blew the auditorium up. It's going
to be closed for a week or so for repairs." Serena smiled. No assembly!
The assembly that was planned for the first day of school was BORING!
She had seen it before, so she decided they could do without it, for one
year.
Lita brushed at her hair slowly. "So, is this
an isolated account, Luna?" The black cat sighed.
Ami ran in, she was panting, probably ran the whole
way. "Let me see the stone!" Ami cried out, she so much wanted to see it.
She could run tests on it... get out her old chemistry kit, test its hardness,
it's... EVERYTHING!
Raye sighed. She could see the anticipation
on her eyes. How could Ami be this excited over a stone? It wasn't
valuable or ANYTHING!
"What do we know?" Luna asked.
"Someone saved me, called himself Lucent Knight."
Ami said, she thought back to the gun. It didn't shoot anything resembling
a bullet, but what seemed to be a pure ball of energy. She wanted
to test that as well. "He showed up at just the right moment."
Outside of the temple, a man walked up the stairs
towards the entrance. Ekomin slowly stepped up the last steps to
the shrine. His long, albino-white hair and eyes gave him a unique appearance.
He wasn't overly muscular, but he wasn't weak. He had a headache
for the most part.
He could barely recall the future. Why did he think
about the future?
Instead, he thought about his hidden weapon.
Ekomin felt a large rod under his Yellow Shinto robe. In actuality,
it was a three-piece-rod under his robe.
Why do I carry such weapons... his memory was in
and out. Until it came back, he would just have to do his mission...
his mission? What is it I have to do.
He had disguised himself to hide well. His
goal was definite. He had to do it...
But what do I have to do?
Greg walked into his apartment. Jet lag had
hit him hard, no sleep. Another unfortunate fact was the guy next
to him snored louder than most elephants. This hadn't helped either.
He dropped down on the couch. This was his second day here, and he hadn't
a bit of sleep yet.
He hadn't had a good conversation with Ami, either.
He carefully assembled thoughts in his head. Yesterday
seemed a blur, save a vision of a man in white, a gun...
Holy energy, what could it be?
Tomorrow, he would talk with Ami, tomorrow.
Trevor Gains was reported legally dead, but he sat
at an abandoned building on a small hill. He had hidden himself well.
The police wouldn't find him; he had to remember to stay hidden better.
They nearly caught him yesterday. He was sure he had done his job...
she was taken care of, right?
His shoulder length blue hair made him unique to
others. His physique was massive, though, and his abilities were
more than anyone could comprehend. He would find that girl, if it
took everything he had.
Ami thought about the Lucent Knight. Who could
he be? This really egged Ami. It couldn't be anyone she knew...
could it? Instead of pondering, she went to bed, leaving it as a
question for another day.
The next day proceeded quietly. Serena doodled
rabbits on her Math paper. The day was almost out, so Luna would
have work for her to do. Lita would get to go home early because
she was sick, and Raye was showing some new guy around the shrine.
It looked like it was just Ami and Mina. Not that she minded.
She hadn't had any real quality time with Mina for awhile.
Ami heard someone approach the door outside.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*. It was just Nick, apparently
just getting home. Ami returned to reading her book. She was constantly
sitting isolated from the world her nose in one book or another.
Another person came towards her door. This one yelled out: "Knock,
knock! Ami you home?" Ami opened the door. Instead of
Mina, it was Serena who had come over. "You know Serena, some people
really knock on doors." She commented. Serena's eyes glazed over.
Ami sighed, she had smelled the dinner she had made. "Come in."
"This is good..." Mina commented, "did you make it,
Ami?"
"Yes... didn't we have a job to do?" Ami asked impatiently.
Hours had been wasted at her apartment. Hours that could've been used.
"Mm... but this is soooo good."
"Let's go." Ami said, and another knock at her door.
Oh no, they were supposed to be done by now, Mina and Serena gone.
"I'll get it."
Greg waited patiently outside Ami's room. He
couldn't seem to get the idea of talking with her again. 7:00.
Still lots of time left in the day. Ami opened the door. She
greeted him with a worried smile.
"What's wrong?" Greg asked her.
"Mina and Serena dropped by. They'll be going
any minute now. Let me go get them." Ami quickly offered. Looked
like they'd have to do this on their own.
"But.... Ami!" Serena protested as she retrieved
her things. "We were supposed to go?"
"I told you to hurry and finish eating, but you
had to goof around." Ami said as she ushered them out.
"So Ami, what are you and Greg doing?"
"Out Mina."
"Tell us," Serena pressured. The door closed,
the golden numbers 814. Serena cringed. Ami had kicked her
out that had never happened before. Had she over stayed her welcome?
Surely not.
Mina and Serena saw a young boy come up the hallway
from the opposite end. He looked like Nick. He knocked on the
door, which slowly opened. A book flew out as he scrambled to avoid
it, knocking over a table with a flower vase on it. Water spilled
on his pants, and he dropped a small bag that made a cracking noise.
He grimaced, wiping his pants and retrieving his fallen package.
Mina and Serena just looked at each other and giggled.
The Shrine at Cherry Hill:
Chad eyed Ekomin. Ekomin eyed Chad.
Neither felt comfortable with the other's presence. The staring contest
had gone on three full minutes now, until Chad finally blinked. I
think he blinked. No one could tell under that mass of hair.
Ekomin had secret things to do, and Chad pried too
much. So did that priestess. Raye... was that her name?
He could never get any work done with those two losers looking over his
shoulder day in and out. "Don't you have work to do?" Ekomin
asked slyly. Chad nodded. The punk rock star left, leaving
Ekomin to still wonder his eye color. No matter, the man stepped
into the fire room. The Great Fire was fully ablaze. "Time
to talk flamie."
"Tell me where the girl is!" Ekomin shouted at the
fire. Something appeared to him. Three figures that he had
only barely recognized, but couldn't comprehend. The first was two
connected loops standing one on top of the other. The second was
a straight line perpendicular to a line that ran under the two loops and
the second and third figures. The final figure was a line with a
loop on top, made with short, 45-degree angles. He had to learn human
languages. "Damn flames!"
It had to be a number, he thought. The image
disappeared quickly, the fire not dispensing anything more.
"Venus... Star Power!" The yellow and gold
light encircled Mina, seeming bright enough to blind any foolish enough
to look straight on. She disappeared amidst a bright flash.
Faster than light, seemingly, a figure similar to Mina appeared, overlapping
the same occupied space that Mina was at earlier. It was Sailor Venus.
Serena had run ahead of her as Sailor Moon.
"Luna has known about the draining for days now!
Why send us now, when we're at our weakest," Sailor Moon whined.
"Sailor Moon! Wait for me!"
Sailor Moon cringed at the large gargoyle creature,
totally different from the first but just as deadly. It formed a
small ball of energy, and hurled it towards her. It connected, and
Serena collapsed to the ground with a bloodied face. Another energy
ball sailed towards her as she cried out for help. But, no one seemed
to hear her. Just then a flash of red shattered the energy, causing it
to dissipate, slapping painfully but non-lethally into Sailor Moon's face.
A rose stuck into the concrete.
"Sailor Moon," said the familiar voice of Tuxedo
Mask, "learn to stand on your own, and you will be victorious! Fare well
for now!" He was standing on a lamppost.
The gargoyle like creature decided to pick on the
new comer. It jumped straight at him. Tuxedo Mask jumped back
off the lamppost, simultaneously slamming his cane into the creature's
nose.
The creature fell to the ground while Tuxedo Mask
harmlessly stood atop a parked car. The creature viciously wiped
at its nose, now bleeding freely, before standing and jumping towards the
car. Tuxedo Mask decided not to risk the same trick twice and instead
jumped off the car.
As it reached the top of the car, the words "VENUS...
CRESENT BEAM SMASH" filled the air and a brilliant yellow and orange beam
flew towards the creature. The creature smiled, sending out a wave
of energy towards the girl. The beam collided with the energy source,
diverting it downwards. The crescent beam arched towards the car,
hitting its front end. The creature lost its smile.
The car exploded into an inferno of fire and flames.
When the flames died down, a creature could be seen, a piercing scream
emanating from its lips. It flashed darkly and turned into a dark
brown stone that made a slight twinkling sound before hitting the ground.
The Scouts silently rejoiced. "Good job, Sailor
Moon, Sailor Venus," then, referring to a man with his mouth agape, "Sorry
about your car. Hope you had insurance. Farewell."
Tuxedo Mask and the Scouts went home. The
man called a tow truck... and the fire department.
"Umm, Ekomin, the fire doesn't speak to strangers."
Raye said, after Ekomin related the story.
"It just taunts us then?" The man said, slamming
his fist onto the table. He hated fish, boy did he hate fish.
And sushi, all it was, was fish! He couldn't stand being here much
longer. He had take care of the girl, and get back. Kaziz would
need a report.
"Trevor... explain yourself, why haven't you been
successful," came an unearthly voice.
"It's harder then you think my lord, gathering energy.
Twice now those girls have foiled our plan," Trevor replied, "I need more
then those wimpy elementals."
"Make do!" The demon lord cried at him. "I
know their true identities... attack them when they haven't transformed
and they are no stronger then any other human. One girl is right
at home... alone. Strike now."
Trevor smiled. Finally his chance to strike
back. Get her here and now.
Greg carefully maneuvered his knight. "Check."
Ami stared at the board, not at all puzzled. She grinned to herself,
made one quick move, captured the knight with her bishop, and, "Checkmate."
Greg looked the board over one more time.
"Hmm, you're right. Amusing." He said with a sarcastic
grin. Then, as if from no where a blast erupted through the door.
Flames spout through the entirety of the apartment. "Ami! Run!"
He absorbed a flaming bolt of energy. Surprisingly,
it didn't do much damage, although he did fall over.
"Greg... call the fire department..."
But the flaming creature spun into the room cutting
off their escape.
'I have to get Ami out of here, but how?'
He was knocked down from another flaming bolt of energy. Most of
the damage was due to kinetic force rather than heat, although the room
was aflame. "Ami, run and get the others. Hurry!" There,
that would work. Ami tried to carry him out, but he would not have
it.
"Greg hurry," but he retreated into her room, Ami
was about to transform, when a flaming bolt hit her full on. Unlike
Greg, she wasn't hit with a grazing shot, but was hit straight on.
Collapsing into the corner, she barely moved, breathing hard. The
elemental moved into her room, cornering Greg.
Greg ran had carefully tied himself to the balcony
with a bed sheet. This elemental had no wings. Greg had a daring
plan. He had seen it in a vision... or was it a movie? He wasn't
sure at the moment. The creature prepared, and hurled a ball of fire
at him, but the fire bolt ceased to exist half way to him.
The elemental roared, and lost its flame.
It was just another rock creature but, no wings. Greg smirked.
Please, please work. The creature ran towards him.
In another dimension, Trevor slammed his viewing
globe. "Not him! Finish the girl! No, now you've lost your flame!"
A glitter of red appeared behind him. A red haired
girl, about his height looked at him. She snickered.
"What do you want Rochelle?" Trevor asked
glaring over his shoulder.
The girl snickered again. "So, you losing against
girls? Rather embarrassing?"
"I would've won, had those guys not interfered."
It was a running pattern, almost win, then NO, some lucky guy gets in the
way!
"I would have killed all of them by now, and been
back to Mizzen, but you? No, you've lost two of our finest warriors."
"This isn't any of his business. It's personnel."
Then, muttering, "...stupid creature... lost its flame."
Greg jumped over the balcony, and grasped onto it. The red being charged forward at him, but couldn't stop before the side of the balcony. Surprised, it hit the side, and flipped over, plummeting to the ground. Greg looked down at the streets below him; not a great drop, but it would certainly make him only a memory. He really hoped Ami would come help him up... he really hoped. What was taking so long?
Nick sniffed the air again. Smoke? He flipped
his straight black hair and looked at his brother. Matt acknowledged
the look barely. "You smell that Matt?"
"Smell what?"
"Smells like smoke." Nick said. "I think its
coming from Ami's. I'm going to go check on it."
Matt wondered how he stayed calm in these matters.
Their friend's apartment was possibly in a blaze, and he was calm.
Matt decided to take action. He was smaller than Nick, but truly
the more impulsive one. He wasn't very strong or particularly resilient,
but he was going to help out anyway.
"I'll go check it out." Matt said grabbing
something on his way out.
What is he doing? Nick wondered, also going next
door.
Ami felt the burning pain suddenly subside.
As if someone had simply blocked it all out. She looked up; the smiling,
friendly face of Matt looked down on her.
"You finally up? Nick's in. I'll get
you out."
The smoke had risen well above Ami, and was being
funneled out the balcony.
After Matt helped the dazed girl outside, it took
a few minutes for her to sort everything out in her mind. Finally,
she remembered. Greg! He was still inside!
"Matt, Greg's still in there."
"Don't worry," The boy said with a smile. "I'll
take care of it.' And with that Matt ran back into the inferno known as
room 814.
Greg could feel his grip slipping. He was slowing
falling. Maybe he'd get lucky and fall on a passing car. That
would cushion his fall. Better not to think about it.
Finally he saw it.
The weak knot he had tied slipped loose, and he
was falling. At least, he almost did. Sliding out of the burning
room had been a boy, about fourteen, that had caught his hand at the last
possible moment.
"Who... are you?" Greg asked him. A bit bewildered,
but nonetheless happy.
"Look, can you just get up here. Because I'm
not going to be able to..." Matt said.
"Thanks," Greg muttered pulling up, "but how'd
you run through fire?"
"It's a bit difficult to explain. It wasn't
much of a fire, anyway."
Matt said, he didn't want to divulge too much to
this stranger. Besides, he barely even knew.
Nick looked over Ami, the fire was easy enough to
douse, and nothing valuable had been damaged. He hoped Ami wouldn't
wonder what happened when she woke up.
Matt had carried the other guy out of the flames.
Nick really wanted to know how he did that, but more importantly, who was
Ami's friend?