Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Alone No More - Minako's Story ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: jasonulloa 
Minako and Ryoku begin to learn English, and Tempest begins to suspect that Masked Knight and Ryoku are the same person.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.15.2003 | Pages: 9 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 229 | Status: Completed
Minako and Ryoku begin to learn English, and Tempest begins to suspect that Masked Knight and Ryoku are the same person.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.15.2003 | Pages: 9 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 229 | Status: Completed
Alone No More: Minako's Story
by Jason C. Ulloa
Chapter 15
"Well, that was interesting," Katrina said as she, Sailor V, and Masked Knight all left
Interpol after the two Senshi checked in. "I hoped that you two were better at speaking
English than that. I was almost embarrassed for you both! I'm just glad that you both can
speak it well enough to be understandable."
"What do you expect?" Knight replied with a shrug. "We're junior high exchange students,
Katrina-san. We know enough, but we're hardly experts."
"And those accents!" Sailor V added, shaking her head. "It's so hard to understand them
with those accents! I'm sure we wouldn't be having this much trouble if we had to go to
America. At least they don't have these heavy accents!"
Katrina laughed quietly to herself. "I know what you mean," she replied understandingly. "I
had problems understanding them when I came to live here, but now I've gotten used to it.
I'm just fortunate that I don't speak with the same kind of accent, or else I'd probably
have trouble understanding myself."
Sailor V and Masked Knight both laughed at that. "Well then, Katrina," Sailor V said with a
grin, "maybe you can help us with our English. After all, you know the language and you
don't speak with an accent."
"Well, since I'm going to be working with you two, then I'd be more than happy to help you
both learn to speak English properly," she answered with a smile. "After all, if you're
going to be here a while, then you'll both need it."
"No kidding," Knight said with a grimace. "Kinda makes me feel a little foolish when no one
can understand what I'm saying. We appreiciate your help, Katrina-san."
"Yeah, we're really grateful, Katrina!" Sailor V added. "Thank you!"
"Well, since nothing's really going on right now, how about we go over our first lesson?"
Katrina suggested. "Let's go."
**********************************************
After Minako and Ryoku found a place to change back from their alter egos, they all took a
walk though downtown London. Katrina pointed out various buildings, landmarks, and - to
Minako's delight and Ryoku's dismay - shops. Minako pointed out each of the shops that she
had already visited with Ryoku. From the expressions on his face, Katrina could easily tell
that he would rather not have to go through most of the stores again. One clothing store in
particular made a slight redness appear in his face, which made her wonder what exactly was
Minako looking at in that store.
"Either of you hungry?" Katrina asked as they passed by a small café.
"Hai!" Minako exclaimed as she nodded enthusiastically. "I'm starved! Let's go eat!"
"Sure, I can go for some food right about now," Ryoku replied, while glancing askance at
Minako's... eagerness. "Where're we going?"
"Here's a good place," she replied as she nodded back toward the café. "We can test your
English speaking abilities by ordering lunch. Oh, and I'm not going to help either of you,"
she added with a mischevious smirk. "If you end up with something that you don't want,
you're going to have to deal with it."
Minako grimaced slightly as her English still wasn't very good. Ryoku, on the other hand,
merely shrugged indifferently. Her grimace deepened as she glanced at him. Of course, he
wouldn't have much difficulty. Although he wasn't an advanced speaker of English, he
understood a lot more than she did. Even worse, she knew he wouldn't help her order if she
got stuck. This was a test; he wouldn't help her because it would be cheating.
"Well, let's go get something to eat," Katrina said as she went inside, leaving the two
others to follow her inside.
After finally getting a table and some menus, Minako was chagrined to find out that Katrina
had intentionally picked a place that had no pictures on the menus. 'Shimatta...,' Minako
mentally cursed as she tried her best to figure out the menu. Sure, she could understand
some items, but she was hardly in the mood for a cheese sandwich. She glanced over at
Ryoku, noticing that he had a blank expression on his face. Knowing him, that probably
meant that he was having just as much trouble as she was. Maybe they should both just go
for the cheese sandwiches and be done with it.
"All right," Ryoku said finally with a small resigned sigh. "I've decided."
Minako gave her menu one last glanced and decided on something that sounded good enough:
fish and chips. The thing was, she just wished she knew what 'chips' were. Potato chips,
maybe? But that hardly sounded right. Oh, well....
"I've decided, too," she said as well. Maybe if what she ordered wasn't something she could
ingest, perhaps Ryoku would share some of his... that is, unless he ordered something
horrid as well. Then again, what if her order was good and his was the unedible one? Well,
Ryoku was better at English than she was, so it was more likely that his was the better
order anyway.
"Can I take your order?" a waiter asked - in English - after he had come to their table.
"You first, Minako," Katrina said, also in English.
Minako sighed as she readied herself. "I'll have the fish and chips," she said. "And some
milk."
Ryoku blinked as he stared at her in bewilderment. "Anou.... I will have the same," he told
the waiter without turning his gaze from Minako.
Katrina glanced askance at Ryoku, then turned toward the waiter. "Same here."
"So, three orders of fish and chips, and three milks," the waiter confirmed. "They shall be
ready shortly." With that, he turned and left promptly.
"Amazing...," Ryoku muttered just as Katrina was about to open her mouth and comment on the
fact that he choice the exact same thing as Minako. "You chose the exact same thing that I
was thinking of, Minako-chan!"
"Coincidence, huh?" Katrina asked, giving the two a wry look.
"Comes from being partners for so long," Minako replied. "We start to think alike."
"And that's what scares me," Ryoku commented facetously.
"Hmph!" she shot back, then pulled down one eyelid and stuck out her tongue. "Biidah!"
"Sou ka?" he replied, then repeated the gesture back at her until they began to laugh at
how stupid they looked. All the while, Katrina watched the both of them and laughed softly
to herself.
"All right, you two," she said with some amusement. "Maybe we should get back to our little
English lesson. Now, let's go over what we've learned so far and see what you both
remember...."
******************************************* ***
"Those fish and chips were great!" Minako said in a satisfied voice as they left the café.
"You know, for a moment I thought that I was gonna order something really bad."
Ryoku smirked. "Maybe you just got lucky."
"You were about to order the same thing, you know," she pointed out with a smirk of her
own. She grinned as she saw him blink in realization, then grimace.
"So you got me there," he muttered testily.
Katrina smiled to herself as she walked alongside Minako and Ryoku. She was definitely
enjoying herself today. Maybe she should arrange to do this with them more often....
Her musings were cut short as she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She
paused for a moment and glanced toward that direction, searching for... anything.
"Something wrong, Katrina-san?" Ryoku asked, stopping as well.
"I thought I... saw something," she began slowly.
"Like what?" Minako asked, glancing in the same direction that Katrina was staring.
"I don't know," she replied, then shrugged. "It may've been nothing. I don't know."
"Hmm...," Ryoku murmured, frowning. "I have a bad feeling.... Maybe I should go take a look
any...." He cut off as a loud scream was heard in the distance.
"It sounded like it came from that direction!" Katrina said as she pulled out her gun.
"Right," Minako agreed. "Ryo-kun, let's go!"
"Right behind you!" he said as he took off after Minako, pulling out his Star Sword as she
pulled out her transformation pen.
"Hey!" Katrina shouted as she started running after them. "Wait up!!!"
"Moon Power Transform!"
"Star Sword Power Transform!"
Katrina tried to keep up, but Sailor V and Masked Knight were fast. Very fast. "Hey! Don't
leave me behind!" she yelled indignantly.
In response, Masked Knight glanced over his shoulder at her. "Hey, Venus, you go ahead," he
told her. "I'll drop back and help Katrina-san catch up."
Sailor V nodded. "Okay," she replied and kept running as he dropped back. She quickly
turned a corner and jumped up to a stone wall, then sprung to the rooftop and hurried from
there.
Katrina stopped and watched in awe as Sailor V leaped to the rooftops and kept running.
Masked Knight grinned at her, then nudged her with her elbow. "Come on, Katrina-san. We've
got to hurry, since we're taking the long way."
"Right," she agreed as they began to run again. "By the way, how will you know where
Minako-chan...."
"Sailor V," he corrected.
"...Sailor V is?" she finished. "I take it you have some form of communication... unless
you both really do think very much alike," she added teasingly.
He grinned slightly as he brought out his communicator. "Here's how," he replied simply. "I
made these myself... although the instructions were kinda difficult. They work well enough,
though." Especially since he could contact Artemis back in Japan, but he wasn't about to
tell her that.
"Could you make me one?" she asked. "After all, it would be helpful, in case I'm not
around."
"I'd love to, but I can't," he told her. "I don't have the materials to make any more of
them. Sure, a good deal of the parts can be bought from any electronics store, but the
important parts were given to me from someone who's gone now. I wouldn't know where to get
any more."
"I see...," she said disappointedly. "Oh, well. I guess it can't be helped. Too bad."
Just then, Masked Knight's communicator suddenly beeped. Sailor V's face appeared as he
switched on the device. "Knight, Katrina, I found the person who screamed!" she said, her
voice and expression urgent. "A woman. She had her energy drained, just like the others."
"Any sign of the one responsible?" Masked Knight asked.
"No, she's long gone," she replied, upset. "I lost her."
"Chikuso...," he grumbled under his breath as he clenched a fist.
"Do you think we should look around, in case she's still around?" Sailor V asked.
"It might be a good idea," Katrina said. "Since I don't have a communicator, I'll stay with
Ry... Masked Knight."
"We'll stay in this area," he added.
"I'll head in the direction I last saw her heading in," Sailor V told them. "I'll call you
if I spot her."
"Right," he replied with a nod. "Good luck."
"You two be careful," she replied as she turned off the communicator. Masked Knight and
Katrina shared a quick glance, then headed off to go search.
**********************************************
'T hat was close...,' the girl thought as she stepped out of the shadows. 'Sailor V almost
caught me. I only had enough time to drain that one woman and I didn't even do a good job
of it.' She grimaced to herself. 'Quartzite won't be very happy, but it's the best I can do
right now. With Sailor V and Masked Knight hunting me, I can't do much else.'
With a sigh, the girl went back into the shadows and disappeared. Within moments, she
reappeared back inside the warehouse that Quartzite used as his base. There were times when
she was surprised at how different he was from Danburite; Danburite wouldn't've used a
warehouse as a base - it was beneath him. However, Quartzite really didn't give a damn
where he based, as long as it was somewhere where he wouldn't be discovered by accident.
All he cared about was his objectives, not where he stayed in between plans. That was one
of the reasons why she preferred him as leader of the Dark Agency over Danburite... not
that Danburite was a bad leader. Just not as good as Quartzite.
"You're back so soon, Tempest?" he asked questioningly. "Something went wrong, I take it."
That wasn't a question.
"Sailor V interrupted me just before I could finish my first victim," she explained. "You
remember what happened with Rikou. If I had stayed and fought back, I wouldn't have made
it, being caught by surprise as I had, not to mention being in the middle of draining a
human."
Quartzite nodded silently with a deep frown on his face. "I'm disappointed that you were
spotted so quickly, Tempest," he said after a long silence. "Still, you made the right
decision. Right now, I don't have enough of you to spare losing any more because of the
stupid foolishness that some would call bravery. Rikou was one of those fools."
"I understand, Quartzite," she replied with a bow.
"It's good that you do. At least you managed to get some energy. We have enough reserves at
this point in time, so I want you to use the energy you gathered and infuse it into one of
the others."
"Infuse it?" she asked, curiously.
"That's right. Give 'em a power boost. Enough so that, in case Sailor V or Masked Knight do
show up, he or she can take those two out for good. Even though we can't waste resources on
futile battles, we have to face them eventually." Quartzite paused as he regarded Tempest.
"I want you to accompany whomever you choose, but do not take part in the battle. I want
you to watch Sailor V and Masked Knight."
"Watch them?"
"For weaknesses. For anything we can exploit. I cannot afford to underestimate these two,
lest my fate share that of Danburite's. I will not allow that. I will return to Queen Beryl
a success. And I WILL become a General! Nothing will keep me from what is mine."
Tempest bowed as she stepped into the shadows and disappeared again. Yes, he was definitely
a better leader than Danburite. She had a good feeling about this new plan. She would find
Sailor V's and Masked Knight's weaknesses, then they would die.
It was time to get to work.
**********************************************
"So, did you two have fun?" Alan asked as Minako and Ryoku returned home.
"You bet!" Minako answered cheerily in English as she winked at him, while Ryoku merely
nodded.
"Tell me about it," he asked, interested.
"Okay," she replied as she took a seat in the middle of the couch in the living room. Ryoku
sat to her right, at the end of the couch while, to her delight, Alan sat next to her, on
her left. Ryoku took one look at Minako's expression and sighed to himself as he saw her
slightly blushing.
"You remember us telling you about our friend, Katrina, right?" she asked.
"The Interpol officer," he replied. "I remember."
"Well, today, she showed us around where she works, and took us out to lunch. She's
promised to help us with our English."
Alan frowned slightly, pretending to be hurt. "What about me?" he asked in a slighty pouty
tone. "Why didn't you want to ask me to help you with your English?" he asked. "I'm very
good at English, too, in case you forgot."
"We didn't forget," Ryoku told him, resisting the urge to laugh at him. "We just forgot
about it." He paused for a moment. "Anou.... That didn't come out right...."
"Well, if you want, Alan, you could help us with our English, too," she said, smiling up at
him.
He grinned back down at her and Ryoku and nodded. "Well, of course, I'll help you both," he
told them. "Remember, that's what I'm here for: to help you two. Anything that you need
help with, don't hesitate to ask and I'll do my best to help you."
"Oh, I'm so grateful to you, Alan," she said sweetly. At the other end of the couch,
oblivious to both Minako or Alan, Ryoku gagged.
"You say something, Ryo-kun?" Minako asked, looking at him.
"Oh, nothing," he replied nonchalantly. "I didn't say a thing."
**********************************************
"S o, you have no idea what it was that Boss gave you, Ryo-kun?" Minako asked after they had
both gone to bed. She rolled over and peered down from over the edge of her bed down at
Ryoku, who was laying down on the floor. He looked asleep. "Oh, I guess you're already
asleep...."
"Not really," he murmured quietly. "But, I was getting close to it."
"Sumimasen, Ryo-kun," she said apologetically. "I didn't know. It was just that...."
"...you couldn't sleep?" he asked.
"Not after we couldn't find that girl who drained that poor woman's energy," she told him.
"We searched everywhere, Minako-chan," he told her with a small yawn. "No sign of the girl.
At least she didn't strike again after you chased her off."
"That's what is worrying me," she admitted.
"That it was too easy?" he asked as he sat up and looked her straight in the eye. "I know
exactly how you feel. It's been worrying me all day. From what I remember, the Dark Agency
has never acted like that."
"Yeah, they usually put up a fight, at least."
"The way I see it, this could mean one of two things, and I'm not sure I like either one,"
he said grimly. "One, this might just be the beginning of an elaborate trap. If we believe
that our enemy is becoming so scared of us that they will run and not fight, then we may
become too lax, and the enemy will take us by surprise."
"That makes sense," she said as she sat up, staring down at her blanket in worry. "What's
the other thing, Ryo-kun?"
"Two, their numbers are growing smaller because of us. They cannot afford to go all out
with us until they have built their strength enough to prove a match for us." He glanced
down at the floor, not meeting her gaze, for a long moment before he looked back up at her.
"I have a feeling that the second reason may be the real one. But, it could as well be
both."
"It's getting more dangerous, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "This time, it's all or
nothing, ne?"
"All or nothing," he agreed with a solemn nod. "We could die, Minako-chan."
"I'm not worried about that, Ryo-kun," she said with slightly more confidence then before.
"After all, we've got each other. As long as we watch each other's backs, then we won't
die."
In the darkness, she could see him smile slightly as he shook his head. "I still wonder
about how you do that," he said with a sigh.
"Do what?" she asked, blinking in confusion at his sudden change in mood.
"How you can make me feel like I'm always worrying over nothing important, and that
everything will be all right in the end," he told her. "Thank you for making me feel
better, Minako-chan."
She slid the blanket off of her as she got out of bed and sat down on the floor next to him
and smiled. "That's what partners are for, Ryo-kun," she replied as she reached out and
hugged him. "You worry enough for both of us, you poor baka," she told him with a small
laugh.
He quietly hugged her back and for a long time they remained like that, comforting each
other. "I worry because someone's got to be the responsible one," he said, grinning after
they broke the embrace.
"Hmph, see if I hug you again," she said, throwing her head back in mock irritation, then
turning back to look at him again. "You never did answer my first question."
He paused for a moment, trying to recall what she was talking about. "Oh, you mean those
parts that Boss gave me in order to build our communicators?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "Do you have any idea of what they were?"
"I'm not an electronics genius, Minako-chan," he replied dryly. "Maybe Amano-kun might
know, but I can hardly ask him, you know?" He shrugged. "All I know is that Boss supplied
those special parts to me and I don't know if I can find parts like those in just any
electronics store."
"Oh.... Too bad...."
"It would've been useful if we could give Katrina one in case she finds any signs of
attacks from the Dark Agency," he said and shrugged again. "Well, it can't be helped. We
have to use what we can and deal with it." He paused as he frowned slightly.
"What's wrong, Ryo-kun?" she asked.
"Can't you feel it?" he asked, giving her a pointed look.
She glanced in the direction that he was staring and concentrated. Suddenly, she could feel
it, too. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.
"Trouble," he said as he moved to grab his Star Sword, while she reached for her
transformation pen.
"On the roof," she told him as she moved for the window, with him following right behind
her.
"Moon Power Transform!"
"Star Sword Power Transform!"
**********************************************
Alan stirred and briefly woke up. He turned slightly in his bed so that he could see the
window. It was still full dark. He wondered what it was that had woken him only for a brief
second before he turned over again and tried to go back to sleep.
He was hearing things. After all, no one would be on his roof at this time of night. It was
probably just the wind he heard. Without a second thought, he went back to sleep.
**********************************************
Tem pest grinned from within the shadows as Sousha dashed from one victim to the next,
rapidly draining each human faster than she had ever seen in her life. She grinned to
herself at her wise choice at infusing her with the human's energy that she had gathered.
Even though the boost would be temporary, already they were making up for the lost and more.
Another of her good ideas was that, this time, they would gather energy at night. After
some thought on her part, she had realized that a great deal of the attacks that the Dark
Agency had done in the past were during the day, when Sailor V and Masked Knight were
likely awake. If they were asleep, she would not only have more time to take care of
business, but there was a small possibility that they would also be too sleepy to fight.
That was a small possibility, indeed, but it was better than nothing.
She had long since altered Sousha's energy gathering ability so that whenever she gathered
a human's energy, she kept a small portion for herself so that the temporary boost to her
speed and strength would last for a long time. Even if she stopped taking in human energy,
the energy she had collected so far would sustain her for at least four days more.
The street was already littered with the bodies of humans with their energy drained
completely. More humans were fleeing the street, hoping to get away before Sousha caught
them as well, but she was so much faster than any of them. They could not escape.
Sousha was about to take down another human when something flew down from overhead and
struck the ground in front of her, causing her to come to an abrupt halt. As she glanced
upward to see who might have thrown the sword that was now sticking up from the street, two
figures came down at her from overhead, simultaneously striking her with a kick to the
head. She sailed through the air until she struck hard against one of the lamp posts on the
opposite side of the street, denting the metal. The human male that would've been the next
victim scrambled to his feet and fled as fast as he could run.
Tempest grimaced to herself. Sailor V and Masked Knight. Well, it wasn't like she wasn't
expecting them, but it still rankled her that they had come to interrupt her energy
gathering plans. She was doing so well until they appeared.... At least, now she would be
able to see if a powered up Sousha would be able to take them both out. And if it was
necessary, she would only be too happy to give her some help from the sidelines....
"Hey, you're not the one I chased off earlier!" Sailor V said, frowning. "I was sure that
she was the one responsible for this...."
"Doesn't matter," Masked Knight said as he picked up his sword. "We'll just have to take
care of this problem instead."
"You think so?" Sousha asked, grinned confidently. "You're welcome to try. You got lucky
with that sword; I wasn't expecting it. Now, just try and touch me," she said tauntingly.
"I dare you."
Masked Knight frowned darkly. "Oh, really?" he asked quietly. "Don't be so cocky. That'll
be your downfall."
"Hah!" she laughed. "Empty words. Come," she said mockingly. "Fight me, if you dare."
"That's enough!" Sailor V shouted. "Attacking all these innocent people who are just trying
to get to where they're going, or taking late night walks. I forbid it!"
"You stand there in all your arrogance, taunting and mocking us," Knight added angrily. "I
will not tolerate this!"
"Codename: Sailor V! The sailor-suited beautiful soldier of justice, Sailor Venus!"
"Codename: Masked Knight! The sailor-suited handsome soldier of justice, Sailor Knight!"
Sousha grinned maliciously as she regarded them with barely hidden contempt. "I'm stronger
than you think I am," she said. "All those that you have faced do not compare to me.
Tonight, you shall die."
Before either Sailor V or Masked Knight could say anything else, Sousha quickly leaped into
action, rushing at them with an incredible speed. She slammed an elbow into Knight's
stomach before he could recover from his shock, sending him flying through the air and into
a brick wall. He hit the wall so hard that his head bounced back violently before he hit
the ground face first.
"Knight!" Sailor V gasped before Sousha's foot connected with her head, knocking her
backwards several feet. She hit the ground just as hard as her partner did.
Sousha grinned as she strode toward Sailor V, but quickly dodged to the left as she heard
Knight's Star Sword whistling through the air, coming straight at her. She turned around
and blocked his punch at her head. He quickly followed that attack with more punches and
kicks, but she just swatted them away with so much ease.
"Crescent Beam!" she heard Sailor V shout behind her. She whirled around and threw up her
arms over her, calling up her temporary new powers to shield her from the attack. The
shield held, but she felt slightly drained from using it. Of course, the foot to the back
of the head that Knight gave her after she blocked the attack didn't help matters any.
"Earth Thrust!" he shouted, following up his prior attack. By then, Sousha recovered enough
to quickly dodge the attack. Now that she was steady on her feet again, she decided to go
back on the offensive.
"Look out, Venus!" Knight shouted as Sousha leaped at her with one hand outstretched toward
her. She was gathering some of her new energy into her hand and preparing to fire it at
Sailor V.
"Dash Shot!" Sousha yelled as she fired a gray ball of energy at Sailor V. She dodged the
attack, but she was expecting that. She hit the ground before the ball of energy did, then
dashed straight at Sailor V, letting herself go through her own energy ball as she went.
The ball of gray energy surrounded her, then reformed into a curving wall off energy that
bent with the speed that she sped toward Sailor V. She then cocked back her right hand and
swung at Sailor V, connecting her fist with Sailor V's chest. The energy rapidly surged
into her fist, adding power to her attack and sending her flying through the air again at a
dangerous speed.
"Venus!" Knight shouted concernedly as he sped toward Sailor V, putting himself in her
flight path. He left her crash into him, which took him off his feet as they both slammed
into a parked car on the far end of the other side of the street. The car's front end was
dented almost beyond repair, while Sailor V and Masked Knight moaned in pain.
"Knight...," Sailor V moaned weakily. "You... all right?"
"I'm still alive," he replied just as weakly.
"Thanks," she told him as she slowly pushed herself off of him and turned to help him up
from the wreckage, then turned to look at Sousha.
"She's too fast!" she exclaimed in frustration as she turned to Knight. "How can we defeat
her if we can barely hit her?"
"Exactly!" Sousha shouted triumphantly. "With this power boost that Mistress Tempest gave
me, I am invincible!"
"Tempest?" both Sailor V and Masked Knight said curiously as they glanced at each other.
From within the shadows, Tempest smacked her forehead in vexation. Stupid Sousha! Stupid!
Stupid! Stupid!!! Why was it that when it came to subordinates, the more power one had, the
stupider they would get? Next time, she would have to choose one with a little more
intelligence.
"That must've been the girl that I chased off earlier today!" Sailor V exclaimed. "So,
she's here, too?"
'Uh-oh,' Tempest thought as she noticed that Masked Knight was now staring towards any
likely hiding places for any sign of her. 'Damn. I can't have them finding me now....
Wait....' She paused as she took a good look at Masked Knight. 'Strange.... He sort of
looks like someone I've met before.... No. Couldn't be him. Never mind.' With that thought,
and with a last quick glance at Masked Knight, she slowly sank into the shadows and
disappeared.
"There," Knight said, pointing toward the shadows where Tempest had previously been. "I saw
some movement there. That's probably where she was watching us from." His eyes narrowed for
a moment. 'I wish I could've gotten a better look at her. She almost looked... familiar.'
Sousha blinked for a moment as she looked towards the shadows that Tempest had been
watching from. "Mistress Tempest? Why'd you leave so suddenly? Didn't you wanna see me
crush them?"
Knight took advantage of Sousha's inattentiveness and fired another attack. "Earth Thrust!"
he shouted, then started running.
Sousha glanced up to see the stone spike rushing towards her. She reflexively crossed her
arms in front of her, letting the spike crash against the shield that she had called up and
break away into nothing.
As she was blocking the attack, she felt something collide with her head and left shoulder.
Before she could turn her head, she bumped against the brick wall of the building next to
her and heard something smash into the wall next to her head. She tried to turn her head to
see what it was, but found that she couldn't move her head. Out of the corner of her eye,
she could see Masked Knight grinning at her as he leaped off of her shoulder.
"Oyasumi nasai," Knight said smugly as he nodded toward Sailor V, who nodded back in reply.
Sousha tried to move, but found herself pinned to the wall by Knight's Star Sword.
"No," she gasped as she poured all the power she could muster into her shield. "I am
invincible! Mistress Tempest made me invincible! You cannot defeat me!!!"
"Crescent Beam!"
"Earth Thrust!"
Both attacks combined into one powerful attack that slammed into the shield. Since Sousha
had poured all of her power into the shield, she immediately felt completely drained.
"I am... invincible...," she whispered faintly as she slowly began to crumple to the
ground. The sword stuck through her hair was the only thing keeping her from collapsing
completely. "The power boost... she gave me... made me... invincible...."
"That's what you get for relying on something that wasn't even yours to begin with," Sailor
V told her.
"What you thought made you invincible has only made you weaker," Knight added.
"I can... still win," Sousha growled as she raised her hand. "Dash shot!"
"Crescent Beam!"
"Earth Thrust!"
The two attacks collided between them, but the combined attack of Sailor V and Masked
Knight pushed through and struck her. Completely destroyed, her body quickly crumbled into
dust.
**********************************************
"So, that's it?" Quartzite asked flatly. "All that power, and that is the result?"
Tempest winced. Quartzite wasn't yelling at her, but his tone of voice was enough for her
to wish that he would yell at her. His quiet tone reminded her too much of the silence that
usually preceeds a massive explosion. It was ominous. She should be used to that tone of
voice by now, though....
"I'm sorry," she said penitently. "I should've used someone with at least some measure of
intelligence...."
"No matter."
Tempest let out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding. So, she wasn't going to
be punished? What a relief.
"Sousha managed to gather a huge amount of energy, Tempest," he continued, turning from her
to gaze outside into the night sky. "More than most of the others. Think of what we can
accomplish if we continue to use this tactic, or better yet, if we refine this tactic.
"True, Sousha was an idiot, but she was powerful. Think of what could've been accomplished
if her power was balanced with an appropriate measure of intelligence.
"Our numbers may only be just enough to require a second hand to count all of them, but
even if they all fall just as Sousha did, as long as they gather the same amount of energy
as she did at the least, then our goal will be accomplished. We can return to Japan,
knowing that we've given Queen Beryl a huge boost to her operations there."
"But you would rather that we destroy Sailor V and Masked Knight first before our return,
right, Quartzite?" Tempest said.
"That goes without saying," he replied with a frown, then turned to regard her
thoughtfully. "Tempest, you of all people should know that. I practically raised you as my
own daughter. You should know that I would do anything to secure my rise to the venerable
rank of Dark Kingdom General." He turned away to stare outside again, giving the stars a
contemplative scrutiny.
"Quartzite, I thought I recognized who Masked Knight was."
Quartzite whirled back to stare at her. "What?"
Tempest jumped back, startled at his reaction. "I'm not completely sure - it may just be my
imagination - but, I thought Masked Knight looked like someone I knew a long time ago."
"From your old life?" he prompted questioningly.
"Yes...," she began hesitently. "From my old life as Hisakawa Keiko."
"What's his name?" he asked.
"I don't know if it's really him, but...." She sighed and shook her head in resignation.
"His name is Kino Ryoku. I used to know him and his sister, Makoto, from my old boarding
school."
"Kino Ryoku?" Quartzite repeated, saying the name as if it sounded familiar to him.
"I think you may remember him, too," she added. "Remember the boy you fought before you
brought me to Queen Beryl to become Tempest?"
Quartzite's eyes widened in recognition. "Him?" he said, grinning widely.
"Like I said, Quartzite," she quickly put in, "I only said he LOOKED like him! I didn't say
it was him."
He nodded thoughtfully at that. "Still, this may prove to be both useful and troublesome,"
he said. "If it is Kino Ryoku, and he recognizes you, he will more than likely come looking
for you. I can't have that right now."
"Next time I face Sailor V and Masked Knight, I'll be sure to disguise myself," Tempest
told him.
"Good," he said, turning to leave the warehouse. "Remember," he said, pausing just before
he exited, "you are no longer Hisakawa Keiko. You are Tempest. If he is Ryoku, you must
kill him all the same."
Tempest stood staring at the doorway for a long time after Quartzite left. "If it is
Ryo-chan," she whispered to herself, "I don't know if I can kill him...."
**********************************************
D isclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs
to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This
story belongs me, so I would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before
posting it anywhere else. Thank you.
The Question and all stories included are:
Copyright © July 6, 2001 Jason C. Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.
by Jason C. Ulloa
Chapter 15
"Well, that was interesting," Katrina said as she, Sailor V, and Masked Knight all left
Interpol after the two Senshi checked in. "I hoped that you two were better at speaking
English than that. I was almost embarrassed for you both! I'm just glad that you both can
speak it well enough to be understandable."
"What do you expect?" Knight replied with a shrug. "We're junior high exchange students,
Katrina-san. We know enough, but we're hardly experts."
"And those accents!" Sailor V added, shaking her head. "It's so hard to understand them
with those accents! I'm sure we wouldn't be having this much trouble if we had to go to
America. At least they don't have these heavy accents!"
Katrina laughed quietly to herself. "I know what you mean," she replied understandingly. "I
had problems understanding them when I came to live here, but now I've gotten used to it.
I'm just fortunate that I don't speak with the same kind of accent, or else I'd probably
have trouble understanding myself."
Sailor V and Masked Knight both laughed at that. "Well then, Katrina," Sailor V said with a
grin, "maybe you can help us with our English. After all, you know the language and you
don't speak with an accent."
"Well, since I'm going to be working with you two, then I'd be more than happy to help you
both learn to speak English properly," she answered with a smile. "After all, if you're
going to be here a while, then you'll both need it."
"No kidding," Knight said with a grimace. "Kinda makes me feel a little foolish when no one
can understand what I'm saying. We appreiciate your help, Katrina-san."
"Yeah, we're really grateful, Katrina!" Sailor V added. "Thank you!"
"Well, since nothing's really going on right now, how about we go over our first lesson?"
Katrina suggested. "Let's go."
**********************************************
After Minako and Ryoku found a place to change back from their alter egos, they all took a
walk though downtown London. Katrina pointed out various buildings, landmarks, and - to
Minako's delight and Ryoku's dismay - shops. Minako pointed out each of the shops that she
had already visited with Ryoku. From the expressions on his face, Katrina could easily tell
that he would rather not have to go through most of the stores again. One clothing store in
particular made a slight redness appear in his face, which made her wonder what exactly was
Minako looking at in that store.
"Either of you hungry?" Katrina asked as they passed by a small café.
"Hai!" Minako exclaimed as she nodded enthusiastically. "I'm starved! Let's go eat!"
"Sure, I can go for some food right about now," Ryoku replied, while glancing askance at
Minako's... eagerness. "Where're we going?"
"Here's a good place," she replied as she nodded back toward the café. "We can test your
English speaking abilities by ordering lunch. Oh, and I'm not going to help either of you,"
she added with a mischevious smirk. "If you end up with something that you don't want,
you're going to have to deal with it."
Minako grimaced slightly as her English still wasn't very good. Ryoku, on the other hand,
merely shrugged indifferently. Her grimace deepened as she glanced at him. Of course, he
wouldn't have much difficulty. Although he wasn't an advanced speaker of English, he
understood a lot more than she did. Even worse, she knew he wouldn't help her order if she
got stuck. This was a test; he wouldn't help her because it would be cheating.
"Well, let's go get something to eat," Katrina said as she went inside, leaving the two
others to follow her inside.
After finally getting a table and some menus, Minako was chagrined to find out that Katrina
had intentionally picked a place that had no pictures on the menus. 'Shimatta...,' Minako
mentally cursed as she tried her best to figure out the menu. Sure, she could understand
some items, but she was hardly in the mood for a cheese sandwich. She glanced over at
Ryoku, noticing that he had a blank expression on his face. Knowing him, that probably
meant that he was having just as much trouble as she was. Maybe they should both just go
for the cheese sandwiches and be done with it.
"All right," Ryoku said finally with a small resigned sigh. "I've decided."
Minako gave her menu one last glanced and decided on something that sounded good enough:
fish and chips. The thing was, she just wished she knew what 'chips' were. Potato chips,
maybe? But that hardly sounded right. Oh, well....
"I've decided, too," she said as well. Maybe if what she ordered wasn't something she could
ingest, perhaps Ryoku would share some of his... that is, unless he ordered something
horrid as well. Then again, what if her order was good and his was the unedible one? Well,
Ryoku was better at English than she was, so it was more likely that his was the better
order anyway.
"Can I take your order?" a waiter asked - in English - after he had come to their table.
"You first, Minako," Katrina said, also in English.
Minako sighed as she readied herself. "I'll have the fish and chips," she said. "And some
milk."
Ryoku blinked as he stared at her in bewilderment. "Anou.... I will have the same," he told
the waiter without turning his gaze from Minako.
Katrina glanced askance at Ryoku, then turned toward the waiter. "Same here."
"So, three orders of fish and chips, and three milks," the waiter confirmed. "They shall be
ready shortly." With that, he turned and left promptly.
"Amazing...," Ryoku muttered just as Katrina was about to open her mouth and comment on the
fact that he choice the exact same thing as Minako. "You chose the exact same thing that I
was thinking of, Minako-chan!"
"Coincidence, huh?" Katrina asked, giving the two a wry look.
"Comes from being partners for so long," Minako replied. "We start to think alike."
"And that's what scares me," Ryoku commented facetously.
"Hmph!" she shot back, then pulled down one eyelid and stuck out her tongue. "Biidah!"
"Sou ka?" he replied, then repeated the gesture back at her until they began to laugh at
how stupid they looked. All the while, Katrina watched the both of them and laughed softly
to herself.
"All right, you two," she said with some amusement. "Maybe we should get back to our little
English lesson. Now, let's go over what we've learned so far and see what you both
remember...."
******************************************* ***
"Those fish and chips were great!" Minako said in a satisfied voice as they left the café.
"You know, for a moment I thought that I was gonna order something really bad."
Ryoku smirked. "Maybe you just got lucky."
"You were about to order the same thing, you know," she pointed out with a smirk of her
own. She grinned as she saw him blink in realization, then grimace.
"So you got me there," he muttered testily.
Katrina smiled to herself as she walked alongside Minako and Ryoku. She was definitely
enjoying herself today. Maybe she should arrange to do this with them more often....
Her musings were cut short as she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She
paused for a moment and glanced toward that direction, searching for... anything.
"Something wrong, Katrina-san?" Ryoku asked, stopping as well.
"I thought I... saw something," she began slowly.
"Like what?" Minako asked, glancing in the same direction that Katrina was staring.
"I don't know," she replied, then shrugged. "It may've been nothing. I don't know."
"Hmm...," Ryoku murmured, frowning. "I have a bad feeling.... Maybe I should go take a look
any...." He cut off as a loud scream was heard in the distance.
"It sounded like it came from that direction!" Katrina said as she pulled out her gun.
"Right," Minako agreed. "Ryo-kun, let's go!"
"Right behind you!" he said as he took off after Minako, pulling out his Star Sword as she
pulled out her transformation pen.
"Hey!" Katrina shouted as she started running after them. "Wait up!!!"
"Moon Power Transform!"
"Star Sword Power Transform!"
Katrina tried to keep up, but Sailor V and Masked Knight were fast. Very fast. "Hey! Don't
leave me behind!" she yelled indignantly.
In response, Masked Knight glanced over his shoulder at her. "Hey, Venus, you go ahead," he
told her. "I'll drop back and help Katrina-san catch up."
Sailor V nodded. "Okay," she replied and kept running as he dropped back. She quickly
turned a corner and jumped up to a stone wall, then sprung to the rooftop and hurried from
there.
Katrina stopped and watched in awe as Sailor V leaped to the rooftops and kept running.
Masked Knight grinned at her, then nudged her with her elbow. "Come on, Katrina-san. We've
got to hurry, since we're taking the long way."
"Right," she agreed as they began to run again. "By the way, how will you know where
Minako-chan...."
"Sailor V," he corrected.
"...Sailor V is?" she finished. "I take it you have some form of communication... unless
you both really do think very much alike," she added teasingly.
He grinned slightly as he brought out his communicator. "Here's how," he replied simply. "I
made these myself... although the instructions were kinda difficult. They work well enough,
though." Especially since he could contact Artemis back in Japan, but he wasn't about to
tell her that.
"Could you make me one?" she asked. "After all, it would be helpful, in case I'm not
around."
"I'd love to, but I can't," he told her. "I don't have the materials to make any more of
them. Sure, a good deal of the parts can be bought from any electronics store, but the
important parts were given to me from someone who's gone now. I wouldn't know where to get
any more."
"I see...," she said disappointedly. "Oh, well. I guess it can't be helped. Too bad."
Just then, Masked Knight's communicator suddenly beeped. Sailor V's face appeared as he
switched on the device. "Knight, Katrina, I found the person who screamed!" she said, her
voice and expression urgent. "A woman. She had her energy drained, just like the others."
"Any sign of the one responsible?" Masked Knight asked.
"No, she's long gone," she replied, upset. "I lost her."
"Chikuso...," he grumbled under his breath as he clenched a fist.
"Do you think we should look around, in case she's still around?" Sailor V asked.
"It might be a good idea," Katrina said. "Since I don't have a communicator, I'll stay with
Ry... Masked Knight."
"We'll stay in this area," he added.
"I'll head in the direction I last saw her heading in," Sailor V told them. "I'll call you
if I spot her."
"Right," he replied with a nod. "Good luck."
"You two be careful," she replied as she turned off the communicator. Masked Knight and
Katrina shared a quick glance, then headed off to go search.
**********************************************
'T hat was close...,' the girl thought as she stepped out of the shadows. 'Sailor V almost
caught me. I only had enough time to drain that one woman and I didn't even do a good job
of it.' She grimaced to herself. 'Quartzite won't be very happy, but it's the best I can do
right now. With Sailor V and Masked Knight hunting me, I can't do much else.'
With a sigh, the girl went back into the shadows and disappeared. Within moments, she
reappeared back inside the warehouse that Quartzite used as his base. There were times when
she was surprised at how different he was from Danburite; Danburite wouldn't've used a
warehouse as a base - it was beneath him. However, Quartzite really didn't give a damn
where he based, as long as it was somewhere where he wouldn't be discovered by accident.
All he cared about was his objectives, not where he stayed in between plans. That was one
of the reasons why she preferred him as leader of the Dark Agency over Danburite... not
that Danburite was a bad leader. Just not as good as Quartzite.
"You're back so soon, Tempest?" he asked questioningly. "Something went wrong, I take it."
That wasn't a question.
"Sailor V interrupted me just before I could finish my first victim," she explained. "You
remember what happened with Rikou. If I had stayed and fought back, I wouldn't have made
it, being caught by surprise as I had, not to mention being in the middle of draining a
human."
Quartzite nodded silently with a deep frown on his face. "I'm disappointed that you were
spotted so quickly, Tempest," he said after a long silence. "Still, you made the right
decision. Right now, I don't have enough of you to spare losing any more because of the
stupid foolishness that some would call bravery. Rikou was one of those fools."
"I understand, Quartzite," she replied with a bow.
"It's good that you do. At least you managed to get some energy. We have enough reserves at
this point in time, so I want you to use the energy you gathered and infuse it into one of
the others."
"Infuse it?" she asked, curiously.
"That's right. Give 'em a power boost. Enough so that, in case Sailor V or Masked Knight do
show up, he or she can take those two out for good. Even though we can't waste resources on
futile battles, we have to face them eventually." Quartzite paused as he regarded Tempest.
"I want you to accompany whomever you choose, but do not take part in the battle. I want
you to watch Sailor V and Masked Knight."
"Watch them?"
"For weaknesses. For anything we can exploit. I cannot afford to underestimate these two,
lest my fate share that of Danburite's. I will not allow that. I will return to Queen Beryl
a success. And I WILL become a General! Nothing will keep me from what is mine."
Tempest bowed as she stepped into the shadows and disappeared again. Yes, he was definitely
a better leader than Danburite. She had a good feeling about this new plan. She would find
Sailor V's and Masked Knight's weaknesses, then they would die.
It was time to get to work.
**********************************************
"So, did you two have fun?" Alan asked as Minako and Ryoku returned home.
"You bet!" Minako answered cheerily in English as she winked at him, while Ryoku merely
nodded.
"Tell me about it," he asked, interested.
"Okay," she replied as she took a seat in the middle of the couch in the living room. Ryoku
sat to her right, at the end of the couch while, to her delight, Alan sat next to her, on
her left. Ryoku took one look at Minako's expression and sighed to himself as he saw her
slightly blushing.
"You remember us telling you about our friend, Katrina, right?" she asked.
"The Interpol officer," he replied. "I remember."
"Well, today, she showed us around where she works, and took us out to lunch. She's
promised to help us with our English."
Alan frowned slightly, pretending to be hurt. "What about me?" he asked in a slighty pouty
tone. "Why didn't you want to ask me to help you with your English?" he asked. "I'm very
good at English, too, in case you forgot."
"We didn't forget," Ryoku told him, resisting the urge to laugh at him. "We just forgot
about it." He paused for a moment. "Anou.... That didn't come out right...."
"Well, if you want, Alan, you could help us with our English, too," she said, smiling up at
him.
He grinned back down at her and Ryoku and nodded. "Well, of course, I'll help you both," he
told them. "Remember, that's what I'm here for: to help you two. Anything that you need
help with, don't hesitate to ask and I'll do my best to help you."
"Oh, I'm so grateful to you, Alan," she said sweetly. At the other end of the couch,
oblivious to both Minako or Alan, Ryoku gagged.
"You say something, Ryo-kun?" Minako asked, looking at him.
"Oh, nothing," he replied nonchalantly. "I didn't say a thing."
**********************************************
"S o, you have no idea what it was that Boss gave you, Ryo-kun?" Minako asked after they had
both gone to bed. She rolled over and peered down from over the edge of her bed down at
Ryoku, who was laying down on the floor. He looked asleep. "Oh, I guess you're already
asleep...."
"Not really," he murmured quietly. "But, I was getting close to it."
"Sumimasen, Ryo-kun," she said apologetically. "I didn't know. It was just that...."
"...you couldn't sleep?" he asked.
"Not after we couldn't find that girl who drained that poor woman's energy," she told him.
"We searched everywhere, Minako-chan," he told her with a small yawn. "No sign of the girl.
At least she didn't strike again after you chased her off."
"That's what is worrying me," she admitted.
"That it was too easy?" he asked as he sat up and looked her straight in the eye. "I know
exactly how you feel. It's been worrying me all day. From what I remember, the Dark Agency
has never acted like that."
"Yeah, they usually put up a fight, at least."
"The way I see it, this could mean one of two things, and I'm not sure I like either one,"
he said grimly. "One, this might just be the beginning of an elaborate trap. If we believe
that our enemy is becoming so scared of us that they will run and not fight, then we may
become too lax, and the enemy will take us by surprise."
"That makes sense," she said as she sat up, staring down at her blanket in worry. "What's
the other thing, Ryo-kun?"
"Two, their numbers are growing smaller because of us. They cannot afford to go all out
with us until they have built their strength enough to prove a match for us." He glanced
down at the floor, not meeting her gaze, for a long moment before he looked back up at her.
"I have a feeling that the second reason may be the real one. But, it could as well be
both."
"It's getting more dangerous, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "This time, it's all or
nothing, ne?"
"All or nothing," he agreed with a solemn nod. "We could die, Minako-chan."
"I'm not worried about that, Ryo-kun," she said with slightly more confidence then before.
"After all, we've got each other. As long as we watch each other's backs, then we won't
die."
In the darkness, she could see him smile slightly as he shook his head. "I still wonder
about how you do that," he said with a sigh.
"Do what?" she asked, blinking in confusion at his sudden change in mood.
"How you can make me feel like I'm always worrying over nothing important, and that
everything will be all right in the end," he told her. "Thank you for making me feel
better, Minako-chan."
She slid the blanket off of her as she got out of bed and sat down on the floor next to him
and smiled. "That's what partners are for, Ryo-kun," she replied as she reached out and
hugged him. "You worry enough for both of us, you poor baka," she told him with a small
laugh.
He quietly hugged her back and for a long time they remained like that, comforting each
other. "I worry because someone's got to be the responsible one," he said, grinning after
they broke the embrace.
"Hmph, see if I hug you again," she said, throwing her head back in mock irritation, then
turning back to look at him again. "You never did answer my first question."
He paused for a moment, trying to recall what she was talking about. "Oh, you mean those
parts that Boss gave me in order to build our communicators?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "Do you have any idea of what they were?"
"I'm not an electronics genius, Minako-chan," he replied dryly. "Maybe Amano-kun might
know, but I can hardly ask him, you know?" He shrugged. "All I know is that Boss supplied
those special parts to me and I don't know if I can find parts like those in just any
electronics store."
"Oh.... Too bad...."
"It would've been useful if we could give Katrina one in case she finds any signs of
attacks from the Dark Agency," he said and shrugged again. "Well, it can't be helped. We
have to use what we can and deal with it." He paused as he frowned slightly.
"What's wrong, Ryo-kun?" she asked.
"Can't you feel it?" he asked, giving her a pointed look.
She glanced in the direction that he was staring and concentrated. Suddenly, she could feel
it, too. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.
"Trouble," he said as he moved to grab his Star Sword, while she reached for her
transformation pen.
"On the roof," she told him as she moved for the window, with him following right behind
her.
"Moon Power Transform!"
"Star Sword Power Transform!"
**********************************************
Alan stirred and briefly woke up. He turned slightly in his bed so that he could see the
window. It was still full dark. He wondered what it was that had woken him only for a brief
second before he turned over again and tried to go back to sleep.
He was hearing things. After all, no one would be on his roof at this time of night. It was
probably just the wind he heard. Without a second thought, he went back to sleep.
**********************************************
Tem pest grinned from within the shadows as Sousha dashed from one victim to the next,
rapidly draining each human faster than she had ever seen in her life. She grinned to
herself at her wise choice at infusing her with the human's energy that she had gathered.
Even though the boost would be temporary, already they were making up for the lost and more.
Another of her good ideas was that, this time, they would gather energy at night. After
some thought on her part, she had realized that a great deal of the attacks that the Dark
Agency had done in the past were during the day, when Sailor V and Masked Knight were
likely awake. If they were asleep, she would not only have more time to take care of
business, but there was a small possibility that they would also be too sleepy to fight.
That was a small possibility, indeed, but it was better than nothing.
She had long since altered Sousha's energy gathering ability so that whenever she gathered
a human's energy, she kept a small portion for herself so that the temporary boost to her
speed and strength would last for a long time. Even if she stopped taking in human energy,
the energy she had collected so far would sustain her for at least four days more.
The street was already littered with the bodies of humans with their energy drained
completely. More humans were fleeing the street, hoping to get away before Sousha caught
them as well, but she was so much faster than any of them. They could not escape.
Sousha was about to take down another human when something flew down from overhead and
struck the ground in front of her, causing her to come to an abrupt halt. As she glanced
upward to see who might have thrown the sword that was now sticking up from the street, two
figures came down at her from overhead, simultaneously striking her with a kick to the
head. She sailed through the air until she struck hard against one of the lamp posts on the
opposite side of the street, denting the metal. The human male that would've been the next
victim scrambled to his feet and fled as fast as he could run.
Tempest grimaced to herself. Sailor V and Masked Knight. Well, it wasn't like she wasn't
expecting them, but it still rankled her that they had come to interrupt her energy
gathering plans. She was doing so well until they appeared.... At least, now she would be
able to see if a powered up Sousha would be able to take them both out. And if it was
necessary, she would only be too happy to give her some help from the sidelines....
"Hey, you're not the one I chased off earlier!" Sailor V said, frowning. "I was sure that
she was the one responsible for this...."
"Doesn't matter," Masked Knight said as he picked up his sword. "We'll just have to take
care of this problem instead."
"You think so?" Sousha asked, grinned confidently. "You're welcome to try. You got lucky
with that sword; I wasn't expecting it. Now, just try and touch me," she said tauntingly.
"I dare you."
Masked Knight frowned darkly. "Oh, really?" he asked quietly. "Don't be so cocky. That'll
be your downfall."
"Hah!" she laughed. "Empty words. Come," she said mockingly. "Fight me, if you dare."
"That's enough!" Sailor V shouted. "Attacking all these innocent people who are just trying
to get to where they're going, or taking late night walks. I forbid it!"
"You stand there in all your arrogance, taunting and mocking us," Knight added angrily. "I
will not tolerate this!"
"Codename: Sailor V! The sailor-suited beautiful soldier of justice, Sailor Venus!"
"Codename: Masked Knight! The sailor-suited handsome soldier of justice, Sailor Knight!"
Sousha grinned maliciously as she regarded them with barely hidden contempt. "I'm stronger
than you think I am," she said. "All those that you have faced do not compare to me.
Tonight, you shall die."
Before either Sailor V or Masked Knight could say anything else, Sousha quickly leaped into
action, rushing at them with an incredible speed. She slammed an elbow into Knight's
stomach before he could recover from his shock, sending him flying through the air and into
a brick wall. He hit the wall so hard that his head bounced back violently before he hit
the ground face first.
"Knight!" Sailor V gasped before Sousha's foot connected with her head, knocking her
backwards several feet. She hit the ground just as hard as her partner did.
Sousha grinned as she strode toward Sailor V, but quickly dodged to the left as she heard
Knight's Star Sword whistling through the air, coming straight at her. She turned around
and blocked his punch at her head. He quickly followed that attack with more punches and
kicks, but she just swatted them away with so much ease.
"Crescent Beam!" she heard Sailor V shout behind her. She whirled around and threw up her
arms over her, calling up her temporary new powers to shield her from the attack. The
shield held, but she felt slightly drained from using it. Of course, the foot to the back
of the head that Knight gave her after she blocked the attack didn't help matters any.
"Earth Thrust!" he shouted, following up his prior attack. By then, Sousha recovered enough
to quickly dodge the attack. Now that she was steady on her feet again, she decided to go
back on the offensive.
"Look out, Venus!" Knight shouted as Sousha leaped at her with one hand outstretched toward
her. She was gathering some of her new energy into her hand and preparing to fire it at
Sailor V.
"Dash Shot!" Sousha yelled as she fired a gray ball of energy at Sailor V. She dodged the
attack, but she was expecting that. She hit the ground before the ball of energy did, then
dashed straight at Sailor V, letting herself go through her own energy ball as she went.
The ball of gray energy surrounded her, then reformed into a curving wall off energy that
bent with the speed that she sped toward Sailor V. She then cocked back her right hand and
swung at Sailor V, connecting her fist with Sailor V's chest. The energy rapidly surged
into her fist, adding power to her attack and sending her flying through the air again at a
dangerous speed.
"Venus!" Knight shouted concernedly as he sped toward Sailor V, putting himself in her
flight path. He left her crash into him, which took him off his feet as they both slammed
into a parked car on the far end of the other side of the street. The car's front end was
dented almost beyond repair, while Sailor V and Masked Knight moaned in pain.
"Knight...," Sailor V moaned weakily. "You... all right?"
"I'm still alive," he replied just as weakly.
"Thanks," she told him as she slowly pushed herself off of him and turned to help him up
from the wreckage, then turned to look at Sousha.
"She's too fast!" she exclaimed in frustration as she turned to Knight. "How can we defeat
her if we can barely hit her?"
"Exactly!" Sousha shouted triumphantly. "With this power boost that Mistress Tempest gave
me, I am invincible!"
"Tempest?" both Sailor V and Masked Knight said curiously as they glanced at each other.
From within the shadows, Tempest smacked her forehead in vexation. Stupid Sousha! Stupid!
Stupid! Stupid!!! Why was it that when it came to subordinates, the more power one had, the
stupider they would get? Next time, she would have to choose one with a little more
intelligence.
"That must've been the girl that I chased off earlier today!" Sailor V exclaimed. "So,
she's here, too?"
'Uh-oh,' Tempest thought as she noticed that Masked Knight was now staring towards any
likely hiding places for any sign of her. 'Damn. I can't have them finding me now....
Wait....' She paused as she took a good look at Masked Knight. 'Strange.... He sort of
looks like someone I've met before.... No. Couldn't be him. Never mind.' With that thought,
and with a last quick glance at Masked Knight, she slowly sank into the shadows and
disappeared.
"There," Knight said, pointing toward the shadows where Tempest had previously been. "I saw
some movement there. That's probably where she was watching us from." His eyes narrowed for
a moment. 'I wish I could've gotten a better look at her. She almost looked... familiar.'
Sousha blinked for a moment as she looked towards the shadows that Tempest had been
watching from. "Mistress Tempest? Why'd you leave so suddenly? Didn't you wanna see me
crush them?"
Knight took advantage of Sousha's inattentiveness and fired another attack. "Earth Thrust!"
he shouted, then started running.
Sousha glanced up to see the stone spike rushing towards her. She reflexively crossed her
arms in front of her, letting the spike crash against the shield that she had called up and
break away into nothing.
As she was blocking the attack, she felt something collide with her head and left shoulder.
Before she could turn her head, she bumped against the brick wall of the building next to
her and heard something smash into the wall next to her head. She tried to turn her head to
see what it was, but found that she couldn't move her head. Out of the corner of her eye,
she could see Masked Knight grinning at her as he leaped off of her shoulder.
"Oyasumi nasai," Knight said smugly as he nodded toward Sailor V, who nodded back in reply.
Sousha tried to move, but found herself pinned to the wall by Knight's Star Sword.
"No," she gasped as she poured all the power she could muster into her shield. "I am
invincible! Mistress Tempest made me invincible! You cannot defeat me!!!"
"Crescent Beam!"
"Earth Thrust!"
Both attacks combined into one powerful attack that slammed into the shield. Since Sousha
had poured all of her power into the shield, she immediately felt completely drained.
"I am... invincible...," she whispered faintly as she slowly began to crumple to the
ground. The sword stuck through her hair was the only thing keeping her from collapsing
completely. "The power boost... she gave me... made me... invincible...."
"That's what you get for relying on something that wasn't even yours to begin with," Sailor
V told her.
"What you thought made you invincible has only made you weaker," Knight added.
"I can... still win," Sousha growled as she raised her hand. "Dash shot!"
"Crescent Beam!"
"Earth Thrust!"
The two attacks collided between them, but the combined attack of Sailor V and Masked
Knight pushed through and struck her. Completely destroyed, her body quickly crumbled into
dust.
**********************************************
"So, that's it?" Quartzite asked flatly. "All that power, and that is the result?"
Tempest winced. Quartzite wasn't yelling at her, but his tone of voice was enough for her
to wish that he would yell at her. His quiet tone reminded her too much of the silence that
usually preceeds a massive explosion. It was ominous. She should be used to that tone of
voice by now, though....
"I'm sorry," she said penitently. "I should've used someone with at least some measure of
intelligence...."
"No matter."
Tempest let out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding. So, she wasn't going to
be punished? What a relief.
"Sousha managed to gather a huge amount of energy, Tempest," he continued, turning from her
to gaze outside into the night sky. "More than most of the others. Think of what we can
accomplish if we continue to use this tactic, or better yet, if we refine this tactic.
"True, Sousha was an idiot, but she was powerful. Think of what could've been accomplished
if her power was balanced with an appropriate measure of intelligence.
"Our numbers may only be just enough to require a second hand to count all of them, but
even if they all fall just as Sousha did, as long as they gather the same amount of energy
as she did at the least, then our goal will be accomplished. We can return to Japan,
knowing that we've given Queen Beryl a huge boost to her operations there."
"But you would rather that we destroy Sailor V and Masked Knight first before our return,
right, Quartzite?" Tempest said.
"That goes without saying," he replied with a frown, then turned to regard her
thoughtfully. "Tempest, you of all people should know that. I practically raised you as my
own daughter. You should know that I would do anything to secure my rise to the venerable
rank of Dark Kingdom General." He turned away to stare outside again, giving the stars a
contemplative scrutiny.
"Quartzite, I thought I recognized who Masked Knight was."
Quartzite whirled back to stare at her. "What?"
Tempest jumped back, startled at his reaction. "I'm not completely sure - it may just be my
imagination - but, I thought Masked Knight looked like someone I knew a long time ago."
"From your old life?" he prompted questioningly.
"Yes...," she began hesitently. "From my old life as Hisakawa Keiko."
"What's his name?" he asked.
"I don't know if it's really him, but...." She sighed and shook her head in resignation.
"His name is Kino Ryoku. I used to know him and his sister, Makoto, from my old boarding
school."
"Kino Ryoku?" Quartzite repeated, saying the name as if it sounded familiar to him.
"I think you may remember him, too," she added. "Remember the boy you fought before you
brought me to Queen Beryl to become Tempest?"
Quartzite's eyes widened in recognition. "Him?" he said, grinning widely.
"Like I said, Quartzite," she quickly put in, "I only said he LOOKED like him! I didn't say
it was him."
He nodded thoughtfully at that. "Still, this may prove to be both useful and troublesome,"
he said. "If it is Kino Ryoku, and he recognizes you, he will more than likely come looking
for you. I can't have that right now."
"Next time I face Sailor V and Masked Knight, I'll be sure to disguise myself," Tempest
told him.
"Good," he said, turning to leave the warehouse. "Remember," he said, pausing just before
he exited, "you are no longer Hisakawa Keiko. You are Tempest. If he is Ryoku, you must
kill him all the same."
Tempest stood staring at the doorway for a long time after Quartzite left. "If it is
Ryo-chan," she whispered to herself, "I don't know if I can kill him...."
**********************************************
D isclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs
to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This
story belongs me, so I would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before
posting it anywhere else. Thank you.
The Question and all stories included are:
Copyright © July 6, 2001 Jason C. Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.