19. Senshi Race

	Ryan stood at the edge of the bubble, not daring to cross the 
threshold onto the rocky landscape before him.  Sandy couldn’t 
cross it, since she was the center - it would follow her wherever 
she chose to go.  But Ryan could go nearly fifty feet from her 
before he passed through the outer wall, and out of the 
breathable air.
	Before him, the Earth and Sun were rising as a cluster in 
whatever direction he was facing.  Having no compass and no 
knowledge of the rotation of the moon, he had no idea which way 
was north.  He and Sandy had been staying in the same place since 
they arrived the three days ago.  They didn’t think there was 
anything to be gained anywhere else, and she needed to bring her 
energy levels up as quickly as possible.  She was still sleeping 
from their lovemaking the night before.
	“Ryan.”
	Ryan looked around.  The voice had come out of nowhere, and 
it wasn’t Sandy’s.  He didn’t dare move away from Sandy any 
farther to look, so he traversed the perimeter of the bubble, 
looking for other life forms.
	“Ryan, it’s Seiya.  I need to talk.”
	Ryan relaxed.  There was no one there to worry about.  In all 
of his life, he never thought he would be relieved to talk to a 
ghost.  He walked over to where Sandy lay sleeping and sat down 
in a position that would let her know he was in a trance.
	In less than a second, he was in the Astral Plane.  Seiya 
appeared in front of him.
	“I did not think you could manifest yourself like this in the 
Astral Plane,” Ryan said.
	“Not when your body was in here,” Seiya told him.  “You’re 
only here in spirit right now, so you aren’t throwing off the 
balance as you were last time I talked to you.”
	“That was so long ago,” Ryan said, trying to shake the clouds 
out of his mind.  “I...I have not thought about you since.  I am 
sorry.”
	“I know, and you needn’t be.  I deliberately blocked your 
mind so you could not remember.  It was safer for the Golden 
Crystal for you not to think about it much.”
	Ryan could understand why.  If anyone read that part of his 
mind, they could easily go and take the crystal for themselves 
and endanger the world.  Accepting what Seiya had told him so 
far, he only had one more question.  “Where are Yaten and Taiki?”
	“That is part of why we’re meeting here,” Seiya said.  “My 
brothers don’t know about this meeting, and they wouldn’t 
approve.  Our sole purpose is to find those who deserve the 
powers, and release those powers into them.  What I have come 
here to tell you is this: there is a powerful stone up here on 
the moon, in a large palace a few miles from where your body 
lies, in the direction of the rising sun.  It is the Dream Stone, 
and is a twin of the Community stone.  Using both of them, Sandy 
will be able to bring both of you back to Earth with little 
difficulty.
	“Why could you not tell me of this?” Ryan asked.
	“Because of our promise,” Seiya told him.  “When we took to 
guarding the Crystal, we promised that we would protect it until 
all of the twelve had been found and the power given to them.  
Helping any of you after that was not specified, and so it is 
against the rules.  Only the exact pact of a dying man can be 
enacted by his spirit, anything else is illegal.”
	“So why are you doing this?”
	“Because I am a Senshi.  My goal while I lived was to fight 
evil and help the defenseless, and right now, the people of Earth 
are almost completely defenseless to Caliban, the man who sent 
you here.”
	“I understand,” Ryan said, bowing his head.  “I thank you for 
the help you are giving me, Seiya.  I will do as you have 
instructed immediately.”
	“There is more help coming,” Seiya told him.  “In this, 
however, I am not restricted.  My brothers and I are conducting 
auditions or tryouts or whatever you wish to call them, for some 
additional Senshi.  I don’t know what to hope for, though.  You 
could be getting all of the other Senshi, or you could be only 
getting the one we’ve already found.”
	“You’ve found another?” Ryan asked in amazement.
	“Actually,” Seiya said, “you found her.”  And with those 
final cryptic words, Seiya vanished.  Ryan called out for him to 
come back and explain what he meant, but there was no response.
	He returned, frustrated, to awaken his bride in the mortal 
realm.

***

	People.  Everywhere there were people, and Ayre couldn’t make 
out a single face, or even a body.  It was bright daylight 
wherever he was, and he could see the meadow for miles around 
clearly, but the people were all blurs.  The hills, the people 
sitting everywhere, quite possibly as many as were on Earth, 
everything was so surreal.
	He had been sleeping soundly when suddenly he was here.  
Thinking it was a dream, he had tried to wake up, but to no 
avail.  This was really happening, whatever it was.
	A face appeared in the sky above the field.  He had long 
white hair, wrapped into a tight, thin tail, and the look of 
someone with extreme attitude who was trying to appear caring.  
He was cute, though not Ayre’s type - too girly.
	“I have brought you all here,” the face said, “to give you 
the opportunity to save the world.”  The people gave some 
assorted gasps and confused noises.  “As most of you already 
know, your Crown Prince and Princess are missing, and have been 
for three days.  They live, but they need your help to get home, 
and to fight the predator Caliban who has been terrorizing the 
Kingdom.  On this field sits everyone living on the planet.  
Everyone you know or don’t know is here.  You will not be allowed 
to see anyone, however, until you return home.”
	Ayre could see people moving their heads to look around them, 
but as the face had said, they were still all blurs.
	“You have all been called here to try and become Stellar 
Senshi, just like Prince Ryan.  But I warn you: those of you who 
choose to try, will be putting yourselves in great risk.  Your 
bodies are still in the mortal realm, and those of you who wish 
to leave will be sent directly back.  Since no one can see who 
you are, there will be no shame in refusing.  Those of you who 
accept the challenge, your bodies will join you here in the 
Astral Plane, and you will not have the option of returning to 
where you were.
	“The trials are difficult and dangerous.  Failure, for those 
of you who try, may mean your death.  It is a risk you will be 
accepting if you agree to it.  There will be some of you who try, 
fail, and survive.  You will be safely returned to the mortal 
realm to resume your normal lives.
	“Now,” the face concluded, “I will make a portal on the 
tallest hill on the ridge.  Any of you who wish to return home 
may head that way when you wish, and there will be no shame in 
doing so.”
	The crowd stood, nearly as one, and began moving toward the 
ridge.  Ayre was stunned.  He knew that quite a few people would 
opt to go home, but he didn’t expect it would be so many.  For 
his part, as soon as the face had said that Ryan and Sandy needed 
help that he just might be able to give, he was ready to face the 
challenge.  Both of them were his friends, and very close to him.  
He wouldn’t think of deserting them in their time of need.
	Once the crowd was gone, Ayre could see the few people who 
remained flocking together on a nearby hill.  Those were the 
people he knew he had to be with.  There were about twenty up 
there when he arrived, and a few more were straggling in.
	From this vantage, Ayre could see the portal clearly: a 
swirling disk of magenta light a few hills away, which the crowd 
was herding itself into.  When they were finished, the portal 
dissipated and the face returned.
	“I am pleased that so many of you decided to stay,” he said, 
and counted heads.  “Twenty eight, when there are only ten spots, 
is hopeful.  Now that you know what’s going on, and agree to do 
your best, I will remove the illusions on you all.”
	Ayre looked around and the people began to focus.
	“Ayre?” said a voice beside him.  “I didn’t think you’d 
stay.”  Ayre turned to see Scott and his heart nearly jumped from 
his chest.  Now this man was his type.
	“Nice to see a friendly face here,” Ayre told him, “and a 
special treat to see such a gorgeous one.”  Scott blushed a deep 
scarlet, but soon his expression changed from embarrassment to 
pleasure.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t looking at Ayre.
	“Look, Sean and Spider are both here,” he said.  Ayre looked 
in the direction Scott indicated and saw the couple standing near 
the edge of the group, conversing.  Ayre followed Scott’s lead, 
and his firm behind, and approached Sean and Spider.
	“Well, if it isn’t the happy couple,” Scott said with a grin.
	The two looked over to Scott and smiled.  “Glad you stayed, 
big brother,” Sean said.
	“I wouldn’t miss the excitement if you paid me,” Scott joked.  
“Look who else I found.”  He gestured to Ayre, who had remained a 
few paces behind him.
	Sean was clearly pleased to have another friend there, but 
Spider looked annoyed.  “It figures the whiny kid would be here,” 
she muttered loud enough for Ayre to hear.  She had expressed her 
distaste for his behavior in her lair during Ryan and Sandy’s 
reception.  He had apologized then, but it hadn’t changed her 
opinion of him.  Oh well.  If was going to be rude, he would be 
rude right back.
	“I am surprised you cared enough about anything to stick 
around,” he said to her.
	“Take it back,” Sean growled.
	“I’m not surprised you’re here,” Spider retorted.  “We all 
know you just want to save Ryan so he might consent to, uh, 
‘impale’ you.”
	Ayre glared at her.  How dare she presume his motives, 
especially when they were so wrong.  Sean was looking at her as 
if she were an alien.  “Spider?”
	“Takes one to know one,” Ayre hissed.
	That did it.  He could see the outrage on Spider’s face and 
the disgust for him on Sean’s for implying that she lusted for 
Ryan herself.  Scott placed in the middle.
	“Look, you guys,” he said.  “We’re not here to fight each 
other, we’re here to save Ryan and Sandy and become Stellar 
Senshi.  Our lives are at enough risk right now as it is and all 
you two can do is argue.  Can’t you put aside your pettiness and 
think about people other than yourselves?”
	“You speak wisely, Scott Lux,” the face said, reappearing.  
“I pray that you make it through to become a Senshi.  Your 
attitude is very befitting to the cause.  I wish that all of you 
could make it,” he addressed to the gathering.  “You all have 
shown true bravery by staying.  Unfortunately, even if all of you 
survive, most, if not all, of you will return home with nothing.”
	“Is it too late to change our minds?” asked a man in the 
crowd.
	“No,” said the face.  A portal opened on the hill.  The man 
and seven others left and the face addressed the remaining 
twenty.  “Anyone else?”
	“All the chickens left,” said a burly bearded man.
	“Bring it on,” added a woman with a shaved head and dressed 
in leather.
	Ayre looked at the others.  Most of them were muscular and 
athletic looking, and looked like they could crush him with their 
pinkies.  In fact, Ayre and his friends looked completely out of 
place in that gang.  Spider might have fit in, if it weren’t for 
her stature, but the other three, including Ayre, were just too 
wholesome looking to be here.  Wholesome?  Ayre couldn’t help but 
laugh.
	“What’s so funny, boy?” asked a bald man with few teeth, 
several tattoos, and more muscles than a bull.
	“Nothing, sir,” Ayre managed to say with a shaking voice.
	“Relax, Chopper,” the shaved woman said.  “The boy ain't 
gonna survive anyway.  The meanest thing you could do right now 
is to let him get his ass mauled by whatever’s out there.”
	She was right, but Ayre wouldn’t let that stop him.  His 
friends were in trouble and he had to help, no matter what the 
cost.  Ayre stood up straight and put the most determined look he 
could muster on his face.  He could do this.
	“Look at the kid,” Chopper said.  “Looks like he thinks he 
can make it.”
	Ayre spun to face him.  “Whether I make it or not,” he said, 
“Prince Ryan and Princess Sandy are my friends, so I have to try.  
It may be suicide, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if 
I sat by and did nothing.”
	“You’re a good kid, kid,” Chopper said with open acceptance.  
“Try to survive.”  Ayre nodded with dignity.
	He turned back to the face.  “What is the challenge?” he 
asked.
	The face seemed to be doing a mental survey of him, then 
nodded as if coming to a decision.  “I will now pull your bodies 
in.  Once it is completed, you must all find your own way, for I 
will be locked out of the Astral Plane.
	Ayre felt a sharp tug as the face disappeared for the last 
time, followed by a tingling sensation and numbness, as if all of 
his limbs had fallen asleep and were now waking up.  He closed 
his eyes as a million needles pierced his skin and he fell to the 
ground.  The pain subsided shortly and he opened his eyes.
	And he found he was all alone.
	It made sense, really.  In order to make this a fair 
selection, each one of them would have to make it through on 
their own merits alone.  Ayre just wished he had more merits to 
use.  If anything came upon him, he’d get flattened.  He wasn’t a 
fighter, far from it, so what was he doing here?
	“Mommy?” came a voice from a clump of bushes near him.  “Is 
that you?”
	Ayre couldn’t mistake the voice for anything but a small 
child.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not your mommy,” he replied.
	The child began to sob and Ayre went to the bushes.  It was a 
young boy, maybe in kindergarten, and he was caught in the bush’s 
branches.  “You’re stuck,” Ayre said.  “Let me help you, then we 
can find your mommy.”
	This had to be part of the test.  No way a kid would be 
stranded in the Astral Plane looking for a mommy who wouldn’t be 
there.  It seemed kind of contrived, making a kid and putting him 
here where Ayre just happened to be starting his trials, probably 
to test his kindness or something.  They must be giving him the 
same test as those tough men and women, like Chopper and the bald 
chick, who might not make it through something like this.
	He decided that his first move should be to find out about 
this boy and how he might go about finding his mother.  “How did 
you get here?” he asked the boy as he lifted him from the bush.
	“I don’t know,” the boy answered.  “I was sleeping, then I 
was here.  I hided when I saw the monsters, but they went away.”
	So there were monsters.  Here was the part Ayre was afraid 
of, challenging creatures that could and would use him as a 
toothpick.  Ayre knew of one way to avoid trouble.  “Which way 
did the monsters go?” he asked.
	“There,” the boy told him, pointing to the ridge.
	“Then we’re going this way,” Ayre told him, walking in the 
opposite direction.  “When did you last see your mommy?”
	“Before I went to bed in my room,” the boy said.  That struck 
Ayre as odd.  If the boy didn’t know where he was and hadn’t seen 
his mommy, then how could he possibly find her?  Perhaps he could 
take the boy to his home.  “Where is your house?  Maybe your 
mommy is there.”
	“2112 St. James street.”  That was near the palace.  Why 
would they give him an address he knew?  Wouldn’t it be better to 
make up an address, just as they had made up the kid: unfamiliar?  
Then it struck him.  What if he was supposed to keep the boy with 
him until the tests were over?  He might be supposed to protect 
him throughout the challenges - that would definitely be an 
appropriate test.  But now what was he supposed to do, fight the 
monsters?
	“Is that big head coming back?” the boy asked.
	“He said he couldn’t,” Ayre said absently, still trying to 
think of his next move.
	“Good,” the boy said.  “It was scary.  It sent most of the 
monsters away and turned the rest into people.  What’s it like 
being a monster?”
	But the face hadn't sent any monsters away, it had....
	“I know where your mommy is,” Ayre said.  “Come on.”  He took 
the boy’s hand and rushed to the ridge where the portal had 
opened to take the people away who didn’t want to try and become 
Senshi.  There was nothing there, as Ayre had feared.
	It all made sense now.  This boy had been brought with 
everyone else, but when he saw all of the blurry people, he 
thought they were monsters and ran from them.  He wasn’t his 
challenge, he was their oversight, and now he was in trouble.  He 
was outraged.  Why would they bring a kid so small into something 
so dangerous.
	“Hey!” he yelled into the air.  “You guys made a mistake.  
Someone come get this kid and bring him home where he belongs.  
This wasn’t meant to be!”
	There was a rumbling and a crack of thunder, and suddenly a 
boulder came jutting out of the ground nearly at their feet.  The 
flat face of it opened and and an old, bearded man stepped out.  
“I heard someone say something wasn’t meant to be,” he said.
	“I did,” Ayre told him.  “This boy is not supposed to be 
here.”
	“How dare you tell me how to do my job,” the old man snapped.  
“I run this place, and everything I make here is here for a 
reason.”
	“But you didn’t make him,” Ayre shot back, pointing fiercely 
at the boy.  “He was accidentally pulled in here from the mortal 
realm with us, and now he’s stuck.”
	“Then he’s your problem,” the man told him.
	“I didn’t bring him here,” Ayre protested.  “I was pulled 
here against my will myself.  The only difference is that I have 
a duty to fulfill here and the boy doesn’t.”
	“If these people who brought you here also brought him, then 
he is theirs to deal with.”
	“But THEY are gone, and THEY won’t be coming back.  All I’m 
asking is to let this kid go back home.  Why is that so 
difficult?”
	The man gave Ayre a sideways glance.  “Are you telling me 
that these people brought this boy here and just abandoned him?”
	“Yes!” Ayre shouted.
	“Who are these people?”
	“There was one.  He had white hair, long, in a tight tail.  
He only showed his face, but it was huge and in the sky,” Ayre 
told him a little more calmly.
	“The ghosts,” the old man mused, his expression softening.  
“They assured me that they wouldn’t bring anyone under thirteen, 
and that most of the minds they brought in would be leaving right 
away.  Yes, I believe they brought this child by accident, and 
you’re right, they won’t be returning as long as the tests are 
being run.  You’re one of their tests, aren’t you?”
	“Yes, why?”
	“Darn,” he said.  “This complicates matters.”
	“In what way?”
	“I cannot leave the Astral plane, or it will collapse, 
killing everyone in it,” the old man told him.  “But the child 
cannot make it back without the help of an adult.  There are 
things in the portals that would leave you or I alone, but they 
would devour someone as small as this child.”
	“I don’t want to be eated,” the child protested.
	“You won’t be,” Ayre said.  “I’m not going to send you 
someplace where you’ll get hurt.”
	“Glad to hear that,” the old man said, “because you are the 
only one here who can bring him home safely.”
	“But what about my test?” Ayre asked.  “What about becoming a 
Senshi and saving my friends?”
	“You will have to give them up.”
	“But they’re counting on me.”
	“So is he,” the old man said, looking at the boy.  Ayre 
turned to see the two sad little eyes looking at him and his 
resistance melted.  He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if 
he went on and left the kid, probably to die, in the Astral 
Plane.
	He hoped the others would make it through the tests and save 
his friends.  He was abandoning his own.  “I’ll go with him,” 
Ayre told the old man.
	“I am sorry,” the old man said with genuine sympathy.  “Such 
a good person doesn’t deserve to have his hopes crushed before 
the tests even start.”  He opened a portal, another swirling mist 
of magenta lights, and Ayre took the boy’s hand.
	“We’re going home,” he told the boy.
	“No,” the old man said, merging with the boy and becoming a 
man of about thirty years.  “That is not meant to be.”
	Ayre found himself standing in a cavelike room.  Ten very 
different statues stood around the perimeter, and the pedestal in 
the center held a golden crystal.  There were also three 
skeletons on the floor, from which three apparitions were rising, 
one with black hair, one with brown, and the third with white.
	“Congratulations,” the white haired one said, whom he 
recognized to be the giant face in the sky from earlier.
	“You have succeeded in understanding that sometimes you have 
to abandon things you care about in order to do what is right,” 
the black haired one told him.  “Your lack of selfishness has 
earned you the right to become a Stellar Senshi.”
	“Me?  But I’m one of the most selfish people I know.”
	“Not when it interferes with your sense of justice,” the 
white haired one said.  “I could see it in you when you were 
willing to risk your life to save your friends.  These tests are 
not to see if you are strong enough to get the powers of a 
Senshi, they are to see if you have the heart to use them for 
good.  You don’t need to be strong or fight well, the Senshi 
powers will do most of that for you.  What they won’t give you is 
what’s in your heart.”
	Ayre was speechless.  There was nothing to say to that.  He 
was worthy of the powers after all.  There was one thing he was 
curious about though.
	“What about the others?” he asked.
	“You are the first one to succeed,” the white haired ghost 
told him.  “Some ignored the boy and went off to find their 
adventure.  Those people were given a few impossible puzzles and 
they gave up, so we sent them home.”
	“And Chopper?”
	“I’m sorry.  Chopper’s heart was in the right place, but his 
head was not.  He found the boy and went off to fight the 
monsters for him, and so he found monsters.  His mind conjured up 
so many that he was quickly overwhelmed.  He did not survive.”
	That hurt.  Chopper, though Ayre had just met him, had 
appreciated him for who he was, not for what he looked like or 
what he could get for anyone.  He had treated Ayre as an equal 
for a few brief moments before they were separated.  He would 
have to remember to pay his respects to Chopper’s friends and 
family when he returned.
	“There is good news, however,” the ghost continued.  “Your 
friends, Sean and Scott Lux, are both doing quite well, and will 
most likely be here within the hour.  The paths they have chosen 
to take with the boy are longer than your rather unusual 
solution.  They will be presented with the same choice you were 
given when they reach the end; and they will reach the end.  They 
will both survive, whether they make it here or not.”
	Ayre breathed a sigh of relief.  But it was a small one, for 
there was one more unaccounted for.  “What of Spider?”
	“We don’t know yet,” the ghost admitted.  “She, like Chopper, 
believed that the boy’s mother was taken by monsters and has gone 
to save her.  But where Chopper went in and took the monsters on, 
Spider is just skulking around in the shadows.”
	Ayre pictured it and quickly understood what Spider was 
doing, causing himself to giggle.
	“What’s so funny about that?” the ghost asked him.
	“She’s a thief,” Ayre said while still laughing.  “She’s 
robbing them!”
	“Why so she is,” the brown haired ghost said, speaking for 
the first time.  Ayre noticed now that the black and brown haired 
ghosts had their eyes closed and seemed to be concentrating on 
something.  They were probably watching everyone’s progress.
	“Imagine,” the black haired one laughed, “a thief Senshi.”
	“Sean’s a thief too,” Ayre told them, “and Spider’s boyfriend 
as well.”
	“If they both make it...” the white haired one began.  “I 
don’t know if I should be hopeful or worried.”
	The black haired ghost opened his eyes.  “Ayre?”
	“Yes.”
	“You know that fight you were having with Spider on the 
hill?”
	“Yeah.”
	“How bad was it?  Did it put a permanent rift between you 
two?”
	“I doubt it,” Ayre replied.  “I’m over it already, and she... 
well, she will do whatever she has to.  Even working with me if 
it comes down to it.”
	“Good.”
	“Why do you ask?”
	“Incoming!” the ghost yelled.  A flash of light above his 
head was the only other warning Ayre got before he was lying on 
the ground with Spider on top of him.  “Because she just passed 
the test,” the ghost answered.
	“I gathered as much,” Ayre groaned.
	Spider raised her head from Ayre’s chest and saw his face.  
Hers did not hide hide anything.  She had the face of someone who 
had just learned her annoying sister was coming to visit, 
permanently.  Then she laughed.
	“This position feels familiar,” she said.
	Ayre remembered the show they had put on in the palace’s 
linen closet for the maids.  He tipped his head back and joined 
in her laughter.  “That was disgusting,” he said, imitating her 
words, “a genius move, but disgusting.”
	Spider punched him playfully in the arm and stood up, holding 
her hand out to assist him.  “I take back what I said back 
there,” he told her.  “You wouldn’t have made it here if you 
didn’t care about anyone besides yourself,” he told her.
	“Thank you,” she said.  “I also take back what I said, part 
of it at least.  You also wouldn’t have made it if your main goal 
was to get Ryan into bed, though I won’t take back that it IS one 
of your goals.”
	“I won’t deny it either,” Ayre said.  “There’s just so much 
about him that I find irresistible.  But I thank you for 
recognizing that that isn’t my strongest drive.  Oh,” he added, 
remembering their friends, “according to the ghosts, Sean and 
Scott are going to live.”
	Spider’s posture relaxed a bit and she looked quite relieved.  
Obviously, she had been worrying about just that, but hadn’t been 
showing it.  “Are they coming here?” she asked.
	“I don’t know,” Ayre said.  “There is still the possibility 
that they will be sent home.”
	“Sean might,” the brown haired ghost said.  “Scott just 
passed.”  To back up his words, a portal opened and Scott joined 
them in the cave.  Ayre grinned with excitement.  He would not 
mind working with Scott in the slightest, though now he was torn 
between which he wanted more, Ryan or Scott.
	“Get over it,” Spider whispered in his ear.  “He’s as 
unavailable to you as Ryan”
	“You two made it,” Scott exclaimed as he ran to Spider and 
Ayre, picking both of their diminutive bodies up in a big hug.  
Ayre closed his eyes and breathed in Scott’s intoxicating scent, 
feeling Scott’s powerful arm across his back.  This was heaven.  
He rested his head against Scott’s chest.
	Then he was standing on the floor.  “Cut it out, Ayre,” Scott 
said gently, but with enough aggravation in it for Ayre to 
appreciate the warning.
	“Told you,” Spider said smugly.
	“Couldn’t help it,” Ayre said, grinning.  “You wouldn’t 
either if you noticed any guy besides Sean.”
	“Thank you,” Spider said with a smile.  He knew she would 
catch the hidden apology for his other words on the hill.
	“Did I hear my name?” Sean said, walking through another 
portal, which closed behind him.
	“Speak of the Devil,” Scott mused.
	“And I arrive,” Sean said, finishing his brother’s sentence.
	“What took you so long?” Spider asked, slipping into his 
arms.
	“You get that little kid talking and he won’t shut up,” Sean 
said jokingly.
	They continued joking and telling what they had gone through 
for another half an hour, when the white haired ghost finally 
spoke.  “It is finished,” he said.  “Everyone is gone, for better 
or worse.  You four are the only ones who qualify.”
	The other two ghosts faded away, back to wherever they came 
from.  “My brothers are not needed for this.  My name is Yaten 
Kou.  My brothers and I were the final three Senshi to appear on 
Earth, but were were sent away on a mission just before the 
planet was frozen.  It is only fitting that the last of the 
Senshi bring the first of the new Senshi into being.”
	“What must we do?” Scott asked as a pupil would ask his 
teacher.
	“You must go to the Crystal,” Yaten said.  “It will choose 
your power.”
	Scott, of course, followed the instructions immediately.  
Ayre watched him, intently, as he approached the Crystal with the 
light illuminating it from the ceiling.  His manly frame 
illuminated by the crystal’s light, his strong back surrounded by 
a golden halo.  His arm rose, seemingly guided by an unseen 
force, and his hand entered the light from the ceiling.  The 
light passed through his hand and into the crystal, which 
intensified its glow.  When it became blinding, a golden beam of 
light shot forth and hit one of the statues: a lion in full 
attack.  The stone softened into fur, bit by bit, until the 
lion’s leap was real, and he landed at Scott’s feet.
	“You have been chosen to harness the power of the Lion’s 
Light,” the lion said.  “I am the lion, Leo, who guards the 
light, holds back the night, protects the right.  When you fight, 
use my might to end your plight.”  There was a low growl of a 
laugh.  “Forgive me,” Leo said, “I get carried away at times.
	“You have shown your loyalty to your kind and your leader, 
Senshi Saggitarius, the kind of loyalty I have been looking for 
since I began my search.  When I saw it in you, I guided your 
progress through the Astral Plane so you would arrive here 
safely.  This belongs to you now.”  Leo opened his mouth to show 
a ring around one of his teeth.  With a breath of warm air even 
Ayre could feel, the ring floated to Scott and placed itself on 
his left ring finger, glowing orange.
	As Scott examined the ring, Leo sprang forth straight for 
Scott.  Ayre let a gasp, thinking the lion was going to kill his 
friend, but it passed into him instead.  Scott leapt back, 
startled by the sudden move as much as Ayre was, but soon relaxed 
his guard and stood proud.  He turned to his friends and his eyes 
began glowing incandescently.  The room suddenly lit up as if 
someone had thrown a switch.
	Now that was cool.  Ayre watched Scott look at his hands and 
arms as if they were new to him.  “I don’t look any different,” 
Scott said, “but the power is tremendous.  How does Ryan stay 
calm feeling like this?”
	“Ryan is used to it,” Yaten said.  “However, his power is not 
as strong as yours, so there is less to cope with.  Who is next?”
	Sean stepped forward as Scott rejoined the group.  Ayre could 
feel an increased power coming from him, similar to Ryan’s, and 
he was instantly more attracted to Scott.  Sean, who was reaching 
for the light, was also cute, but nearly as short as Ayre.  While 
Ayre had more growing to do, Sean was an adult and would get no 
taller.  Besides, Sean was Spider’s and Scott was single.
	Sean’s hand filtered the light entering the crystal just as 
Scott’s had, and another beam of golden light was fired.  This 
one went to the statue of a charging ram with a wicked set of 
horns.  The light finished making the ram flesh and it’s charge 
ended right before it could butt Sean into the wall.
	“Ahh, the courageous Sean Lux,” the ram said.  “I am Aries, 
the ram, keeper of the ever burning fire.”  Ayre was 
disheartened, no longer was he the flaming one of the group.  He 
would have loved the poetic justice if the ram had chosen him.
	“I’ve been watching your bravery ever since horse face left 
this place, and I helped you come through your challenges to 
arrive here.  Take your ring and receive your powers, Senshi 
Aries.”
	Sean slipped the ring from Aries’ horn and placed it on his 
finger, then knelt down so Aries wouldn’t have to jump to enter 
him.  There was a crimson glow around him and he turned to face 
his friends.  His eyes burned with an inner flame and he grinned.  
“This is a great feeling,” he said to them.
	Once again, Ayre felt the power level in the room jump, as 
well as the temperature.  “Turn it down, Sean,” Spider ordered, 
and the room cooled back to normal.
	She nodded with satisfaction and strode to the pedestal.  Her 
hand was over the crystal before her body stopped moving.  The 
beam of light hit the one statue Ayre had hoped not to have come 
to life, that of a giant scorpion.  The stinger on its tail could 
easily kill a person just by impaling - the poison on it would 
probably multiply the deadliness.  Of course, twice dead was 
still dead.
	“My precious Spider,” the scorpion hissed.  “You live in the 
shadows but fight for the light, perfect for my power.  Your 
willingness to sacrifice for what is right is why I, Scorpio, 
Mistress of the Shadows, have chosen you.”  Scorpio’s tail shot 
forward and stopped in front of Spider’s face, on it, the black 
ring of Scorpio.  Spider donned the ring and did as her lover, 
kneeling for the creature to enter her.  Ayre winced.  He didn’t 
like scorpions.
	Spider’s eyes became voids of pure blackness and the room 
dimmed to an equal blackness.  When the light returned, she was 
smiling.  “I like this,” she said.  “But why don’t I feel antsy 
like Scott and Sean?”
	“Scorpio’s power is less than most of the others, but it is 
still formidable,” Yaten told her.
	“Every little bit helps,” Spider said, returning to Sean.
	Ayre’s pulse raced - his turn.  With trepidation, he made the 
trek to the center of the room and cautiously put his hand into 
the light.  He didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary, even 
though he could see through his hand to the glowing golden 
crystal below.  He watched the beam of light race to a statue of 
a young boy about his own age, kinda cute in his own way really, 
dressed in a toga.  He became flesh and stepped forward, 
revealing a clone standing behind him, which he walked with 
toward Ayre.
	“Gemini,” Ayre breathed.
	“You know something of astrology,” the twins said in unison.  
The effect of the double voices was disconcerting, but Ayre 
realized that, though having two bodies and voices, this was in 
fact one entity.  Gemini continued.  “I am Gemini, keeper of the 
double winds.”
	“And governed by Mercury, the trickster,” Ayre said with 
humor in his voice.  “Now I know why I made it.”
	“You are a clever one,” Gemini said.  “I have made the right 
choice.  Here’s your ring.”  The twins joined hands, which fused 
into one, the white ring in its palm.  Ayre took it and slipped 
it on as the boys approached him.  What happened next was the 
strangest thing he had ever experienced.
	As much as he had dreamed of being entered by two attractive 
males at once, he had never imagined it would happen like this.  
They both stepped into his body and he felt pure power tear into 
every pore at once.  It was pure pain and pleasure at once, 
twinned feelings, of course.  When it ended, he felt lightheaded 
and light bodied.
	“What a rush,” he purred.
	“Ayre!” came Scott’s voice from below him.  Below him?  Ayre 
opened his eyes and looked around.  He was about ten feet off of 
the floor and the room below him was in a fury of gale force 
winds.  With a slight push of his will, the wind dies down and he 
settled to the floor.
	“Beyond cool,” Ayre said.
	“Gemini’s attack is the weakest of all of the Senshi,” Yaten 
told him, “but his auxiliary powers can come in very useful.  A 
fair trade, I’d say.”
	“We know who’s going to be distracting our enemies,” Sean 
said.  “Putting a hurricane in a person’s living room would make 
anyone batty.”  Ayre’s grin intensified.  
	He was beginning to like this.

*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************

Author's Note:  WOW!  This episode, though one of my longest, 
only took me two days to write.  To those of you with more modest 
sensibilities, I apologize for this.  When I write, I get into 
the mindset of the character and sometimes I get carried away.  
This episode was more racy than most because, well, Ayre is more 
racy than most.
	Don't worry, though, because the next episode, Homecoming, 
will be from Ryan's and Scott's points of view, niether of whom 
are sluts like Ayre.  Just for anyone who might read this and not 
know any homosxeuals, Ayre is a CHARACTER, not a gay prototype.  
Most gays look and act just like everyone else, and only a scant 
few act like Ayre.
	On to Sean.  If you haven't noticed, Sean doesn't have a 
personality as of yet, and he needs one.  I just can't think of 
what to do with him.  I know he needs to be impulsive, but that's 
about all I have.  I would welcome any suggestions.
	Lastly, I'm sure most of you have figured out by now who the 
Golden Bull is, either by hero name or secret identity or both.  
Those of you who haven't guessed...well, at least I can surprise 
a few people.

				Later.

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