Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Successor ❯ Danger Emerges! ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: Danger Emerges!

 

The bell for class would ring soon, and Ami, Usagi and Makoto were walking down the hall chatting. Ami stopped to get a drink from the drinking fountain, only to have someone else bump into her on the way to it. She stumbled back a step, and immediately bowed politely.

 

"Oh, excuse me! I didn't mean to-"

 

"The nerve of you kids," growled Hitomi Toji. "Who do you think you are, bumping into me?"

 

"Yo, Hitomi-sempai," Mako greeted him. He ignored as he took a menacing step towards Ami, whose eyes raised in concern.

 

"I swear, I'm so sick of you little brats getting in my way..." came his unsettling words in an equally disturbing tone.

 

"Hey!" Usagi scolded. "Don't you dare treat Ami-chan like that. You're the one who bumped into her. Be more polite, especially to girls."

 

"So now you're telling me what to do?!" he snarled. "I won't accept this!!" He heaved his fist at Usagi, whose features promptly bore amazement and panic. Makoto's opened hand flung into the fist's trajectory, stopping it. "You're really asking for this!" warned Mako, striking him across the face fiercely, but with an open hand. His head followed the slap and was averted to one side, his cheek red, his eyes narrowing.

 

"Now go away or I'll really beat the crap out of you..." Makoto demanded, giving him one last chance to turn tail and flee.

 

His face was flushed with blood, of anger and embarrassment, which drowned out the mark of the slap completely. Hitomi-senpai left the girls, and seemingly fumed with anger.

 

"I really don't like the way he was acting..." Usagi said. The others nodded, but she continued, "I mean... it doesn't seem like him. And it seemed... I don't know."

 

"I know what you mean," Ami agreed. "There's something wrong with him, something very wrong."

 

Mako nodded seriously. "Hmm... gotta get back to class, though... if he touches either of you, I'll... you know what I'll do."

 

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Class began for Usagi, Naru, Ami, and the others in their room. Things proceeded normally, with Usagi paying as little attention as possible, and Ami taking exact notes. Suddenly, a bang came from the door to the room, jarring the glass to make a rattling sound. The teacher turned towards the door and tried to discern what had happened to it as he drew closer. The next thing anyone knew, it was knocked open forcefully by the foot of Hitomi Toji, who stormed in with a kendo shinai.

 

"What is this?!" the substitute teacher demanded.

 

Usagi's eyes narrowed a little in analysis. "Hey, that's that guy..."

 

"I'm going to teach your class," stated the cold-eyed Toji. "You may all refer to me as Hitomi-sensei!"

 

"Are you nuts, Toji?" a guy in the front row asked.

 

"Silence!!" yelled Toji, thrashing the kid across the face with the shinai. He fell out of his desk and remained on the ground in shock, taking his time getting up. The elderly teacher stood by helplessly, afraid to challenge a young, strong youth. He took a breath in and began towards the door.

 

"Go ahead, go get help!" insisted Toji. "Just get out of my sight, old wretch!"

 

The teacher scrambled through the doorway and vanished down the halls. Toji cleared his throat and placed the shinai's tip to the floor, resting on it. Usagi looked to Ami, who wore a concerned expression. The genius girl nonchalantly withdrew her communicator and pressed a button, opening a channel to Makoto and Minako. Ami, however, said nothing, allowing them to listen.

 

"I shall be your new teacher. You're all a foolish bunch of brats, and only through my guidance will you learn anything. Now, bow to me!"

 

"Hitomi-sempai!" a tall, athletic student called out, rising from his desk. "Put that thing down right now!!"

 

Toji's eyes seemed ripe with contempt. His teeth bore as he felled the student with a lightning-fast blow to the stomach. Down to his knees, clutching his stomach, the student wondered how Toji had pulled off such speed.

 

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

 

Makoto came running down the hall, listening to her communicator. "That can't be..." she said between breaths. She neared Sakurada's room and saw a strange figure leaning against the wall. He or she had a hood over their head, and wore mysterious clothes. "Who're you?!" she asked rather objectively.

 

When no answer came, she growled and kept going. The door was wide open, and she saw the familiar figure of Hitomi-sempai standing before the desks. She stepped in boldly. His head shot to her direction displeasedly.

 

"What do you want?!" he snapped.

 

"Hitomi-sempai..." Makoto began seriously. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

 

"I've become the new teacher here. Show some respect in my classroom!" He pointed his shinai at her threateningly, his face expressing quickly dwindling stores of patience.

 

"Hitomi-sempai..." Mako lowered her head reflectively. "I don't know what's wrong with you. You're acting like a maniac! You've always had a big head, but this is too far! Start behaving before I have to stop you with my fists!"

 

The tall girl's eyes were the solid green color of summer leaves as she raised her hands. Toji glared at this girl, about as tall as him. His head swung forwards, flinging some of his black hair down. His dark brown eyes cast vibes of ill will at her, and his glasses hung low on his nose, receiving none of the usual lifts and adjustments Toji's hands normally applied regularly.

 

"All my life..." came the strong emotions of Toji, in words, "fools like you have regarded me as nothing! The opposite is true! Humanity should cater to me! I'm so tired of being worthless! Now I'm in charge!!"

 

"Toji!" Mako said boldly. "Look at yourself! You're waving a bamboo sword around in a classroom! Do you call this power? Calm down and get yourself together!!"

 

"SHUT UP!!" roared Toji. "I'll show you power!!" Darting across the floor, he swung at her with the shinai, but the mighty brunette threw up her arm to block it. The slats of bamboo shattered on impact, and the top half of the sword flew through the air, landing several feet away.

 

"Fool!" grunted Toji, thrusting the jagged-edged remains of the weapon at her midsection. She caught it with both hands and stopped it short, but Toji's continuing momentum forced her backwards, crashing her into the wall. Her head thrashed forward when her back made contact, and Toji took this time to pull free the shinai from her grip and thrust it at her again.

 

"Don't think so!" Mako let out as she braced one foot against the wall, springing forward into a tackle that slammed Toji to the ground. Her force continued as she rolled over him, stopping on one knee.

 

She stood up exhaustedly. Several kids had left the room by now, and the rest were fearfully watching. Ami crept over towards Makoto. "Are you okay?" she asked.

 

"He knocked the wind out of me..." Mako replied.

 

"Okay, what's going on?!" Minako asked, arriving in the doorway.

 

Toji sat low on the ground, huddled like a child, his anger brooding inside him. Suddenly, a strange blue energy started seeping out of his body, floating through the air like steam from boiling water. Within a few seconds, most of the class had noticed, and they began to flee the classroom, especially as it intensified and began filling the room with an indescribably unsettling sensation.

 

"Usagi, let's get out of here! This is really weird!!" Naru insisted, tugging on her friend's arm.

 

"Um, right!!" Usagi nodded, following her friend disinterestedly. As soon as they reached a split in the hallway, Usagi got Naru's attention with a tug on the arm.

 

"You go find the rest of the class," she said. "I'll head to the principal's office and tell them something crazy is going on."

 

Naru nodded and went off one way down the hall. Usagi felt a little guilty, but she had to keep her secret. She hastily returned to the classroom, where nothing had changed, except that Toji seemed like he was trying to get up. She then also noticed Artemis in the room, surveying the situation cautiously.

 

Artemis looked back and forth and quickly got their attention, hopping onto a desk. "This is definitely trouble, but I've never seen anything like it. Girls, he's paying no attention. Go to the restroom across the hall, and..."

 

The four knew exactly what he meant, and they hurried out of the room.

 

The mysterious person outside the classroom walked slowly into it. Toji, glowing blue, looked over at the figure with empty eyes.

 

"All right, you're ready now," the figure said in a young man's voice.

 

"Whatever he's ready for, I will not allow it!" came the confident words of a girl. The figure looked to see a girl in a red sailor suit standing next to the open window.

 

"I am Sailor Mars! In the name of Mars, I'll make you regret your evil actions!"

 

A black cat hopped through the window and stood by the girl as well.

 

"About time," Artemis chimed in.

 

"Rei could sense that something was going on," Luna replied. "We met up mid-town. And I notice the others aren't here yet..."

 

Artemis laughed nervously, then returned his focus to the situation at hand.

 

"Sailor Mars..." the figure repeated, learning this new name. He returned his attention to Toji.

 

"Oni! You have reached your limit! Emerge from this human shell and fulfill your desires!"

 

Sailor Mars watched in troubled attentiveness as the blue energy swelled and began manifesting itself into solid matter.

 

"Oni?" Mars asked. "Oni are horned demons..."

 

"Yes," the figure replied.

 

"Who are you?!" she demanded.

 

"Knowing a name means nothing, Sailor Mars. Try to find a deeper understanding of who I am from my name alone. I am Mazarin."

 

He started walking away. "Wait!" she called out. "Get back here!"

 

He turned his gaze back to her for a moment. Eyes that glowed a bright, mintlike green shone at her through the shadows of the hood he wore. At this time, the strange process was complete. Toji's body slumped to the floor and did not move. A hunched, long-limbed creature with bluish black skin sat next to Toji and scowled at Mars. Its hair looked as if Toji's were windswept and colored white. Its eyes were yellow, with catlike black slits for pupils. It wore a crude purple loincloth and had sharp nails on its fingers and toes.

 

The one calling himself Mazarin aimed two fingers at the beast. "Oni, your ego is immense and you long for total supremacy. Your name is Arro! You are free to act!"

 

The Oni rose to its feet, its posture still somewhat poor, but it stood erect enough to tower above Mars. It opened its mouth, its jagged teeth showing. Mazarin slinked out of the room.

 

"Are you ready to bow to your master?" it asked in an eerie, sinister tone.

 

"I won't bow to a monster," Mars bravely retorted.

 

"Monster?!" Arro snorted. "I'll kill you, you worm!"

 

It aimed its hands at Sailor Mars, black surges of electricity gathering in them. It fired a bolt from each hand, crashing through desks as they rushed at the girl. Mars had nowhere to turn to, and she quickly tried to think of what to do...