Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Saga of Mercury ❯ Pandemonium in the Pool ( Chapter 11 )

The Saga of Mercury

Chapter 11

"Pandemonium in the Pool"

Written by Jose I. Ramos

Portions based on "Mercury Knight stories" by Ryuuen No Miko

"Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

Storyline © 2002 Jose I. Ramos

PDF conversion services provided by Fast PDF, LLC

DISCLAIMER

As usual, "Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

The Saga of Mercury story is copyrighted by me, however content in some chapters is based on the Mercury Knight Stories as described in the Chapter 1 Introduction.

Please feel free to write a critique or send your comments to HRFANNY@AOL.COM with the subject line, in all caps, SAGA OF MERCURY. If you do not do this then the filter will block your e-mail.

Chapter 11 - Pandemonium in the Pool

The morning after the "experience" at 10-Ban Land, Greg was in his bathroom, sinking into the hot tub.

The water, whose source was from the natural hot springs, was very relaxing.

Wow, he thought to himself. Yesterday was one of the biggest nights of my life. We fought a youma twice… and I nearly died, again. But Amy was there for me… I… I can't describe what I'm feeling right now. Amy is a princess… no, what am I saying… Amy is THE princess! I have never felt this close to Amy in my entire life.

He stared at a shelf on the wall, where he had placed his Mercury dagger prior to taking his bath and reflected on his thoughts.

As he exited the tub and got dressed, the telephone rang.

Greg answered the phone… it was his dad.

"Glad to see you're up, son. We haven't had some quality time together in a while, do you mind stopping by the fitness center this afternoon so we can jump in the large pool?"

"Uh… okay," said a hesitant Greg, "but you know me when it comes to swimming."

Greg had tried to swim before, and he was absolutely awful at it. He hadn't tried to swim in two years. Even with a swimming pool in the back of his new house, he was reluctant.

"Oh it will be just fine, son. I'll be there as always to help you out. See you there?"

"See you there," said Greg.

Greg hung up the phone and moaned. "This is great," he yelled in disbelief.

Meanwhile, back in the Negaverse…

"So Greg has beef about swimming, eh?" Sorinya said with curled lips. Then an idea struck her. "I know… I'll find a youma that's strong enough to take care of Greg. Before I turn my attention to Amy, I'll make sure that Greg's swim is his first… and last!"

At the Fitness Center…

Greg walked to the pool wearing his trunks and sandals and carrying a towel.

The pool area was pretty empty, save for one person that Greg noticed was swimming underwater. He found an empty beach chair along the side and laid the towel on that chair. Once that was done, he removed his sandals and walked along the edge to the corner, where steps descended into the pool's shallow end.

Greg began to step into the pool. Two steps in, he froze. His feet were already shaking from the lower temperature of the water. It took him about two more minutes before he had the courage to plunge everything under his head into the water. He immediately started to move about in order to warm himself.

"Scared even to get in, huh?"

Greg looked halfway down the pool to see that the person swimming in the pool… was his own father.

"Let's have a go at it, son," Mr. Urawa said to him.

Greg hesitated, and then thought to himself, I have to face my challenges and overcome them someday…

"All right," said Greg.

"Greg, see if you can swim your way from there to where I'm at, which is a few feet deeper than where you are right now. Remember what I taught you before, use both your arms and legs."

A deep breath and an "OK" was Greg's response.

Greg let go of his nervousness, and tried to start swimming over towards his dad.

Greg swam… and swam… and swam… to his father… past his father…

"Greg!" said a smiling Mr. Urawa.

Greg was swimming - not like a beginner, but like Mark Spitz.

He swam to one end of the pool, and then swam back to the other end.

When Greg finished, he lifted his head out of the water and look at his dad, whose face was in awe and amazement.

Greg took some breaths, and then said, "What… what did I do… I… don't get it."

Mr. Urawa responded, "You don't get it? Son, that was the most impressive swim I've ever seen! You could be in the Olympics for all I care! That was… that was surprising! You've made me proud, son! You must… I know… you've been practicing in the pool at our house, behind my back, when I'm at work… is that it?"

"Uh, I don't know what…"

"Oh son, you've made me proud to be your father with what you just did." Mr. Urawa said as he waded his way over to the pool steps. "Looks like my job is done then. Why don't you stay in here a while and continue what you were doing?"

Something in Greg wanted him to push on. "All right," he said.

Mr. Urawa exited the pool, dried himself with his towel, and walked out of the pool area.

Greg continued to swim the same way he was doing it before… several minutes later he thought to himself. How did I get so good? I couldn't have learned this all in one shot. It must have been…

Just then a loud, piercing whistle blew. Greg turned to see a woman in an orange one-piece swimsuit that read "LIFEGUARD".

"You, get out of the pool! We have class now!" she yelled in a hacking, mean voice.

"Uh, pardon me, I'm the only one here in this pool, I'll just move out of the way to let you…"

"NO EXCUSES! GET OUT!" she barked.

Greg hurried his way over to the corner of the pool and over to his chair to dry off. The lifeguard then marched out of the pool area.

Greg lied back on his chair and relaxed himself while drying up.

Fifteen minutes pass… Greg looks around… and notices that there's no one in the pool or in the pool area. There was supposed to be a class, he thought. He stood up and walked toward the entrance. With his back facing the pool, he read closely the sign on the front door, which said, POOL OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS FROM 7 AM TO 11 PM EVERY DAY. CLASSES WEDNESDAYS FROM 3 PM TO 7 PM. NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY. SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Greg thought, No lifeguard on duty? Then why did that person tell me to get out of the pool for a class? Besides, it's 1 PM on a Sunday.

"Because, Greg" said a chilling voice behind him, "you're the only thing that stands in the way of Amy Mizuno's destruction!"

Greg turned and saw the same woman in the one-piece orange swimsuit rising out of the water in the pool; only this time she had green skin and long green hair sticking up like the wife of Frankenstein. On the front said the word "GUARANINE". Below the word was a black inverted moon symbol.

Greg stood up straight and said, "Oh, all right, so I can call you Guaranine?"

"That's right," she responded, "Guaranine, defender of the Negamoon!"

"Well Guaranine, let's see if you can swim your way past me." Greg said. With that he reached into his pocket. "MERCURY…" Greg stopped at once when he realized that he couldn't find his dagger. Then he remembered… he left it inside his locker. A sweatdrop appeared on his head. He didn't know what to do.

"Well what are you waiting for," said Guaranine, "Let's tango!"

With that Guaranine sent out a high-pitched noise from her whistle. Greg saw a large music note coming out of the whistle; Greg was caught in it before he could run away. The music note wrapped around him so tightly that he couldn't move. The music note dragged him toward the water.

"This is too easy!" Guaranine said while Greg was still trying to break free. "Now Greg, it's time for your swan song, if you know what I mean!" With that she proceeded to pull the music note… and Greg… into the water. Greg attempted to resist her force and pressure and tried to stay above the water. He was managing to do so, for now.

As Guaranine was working on him, she heard a loud voice.

"STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!"

She turned around to see three men in shining armor. "Who are you, the three geeks?"

"Who are you calling geeks? You're the geek here! You're trying to drown this man… he is one of our brothers, and we won't allow it! For love and justice! We are the knights of the inner planets, fighting for and defending our princesses. I am the knight of Thunder and Lightning, I AM JUPITER KNIGHT!"

"I'm the knight representing Beauty and Love, I AM VENUS KNIGHT!"

"AND I'M MARS KNIGHT, the guy who handles fire for a living, so I'd be careful if I were you!"

"Guys!" Greg struggled to say, still feeling Guaranine's pressure. "W… where are the girls?"

"They're not here," said Jupiter Knight, "we'll explain later."

"I need one of you guys to try to open the lock to my locker so I can get my dagger and try to transform before this note sucks me in! I've got locker C24!"

"Leave it to me," said Jupiter Knight. "The rest of you guys try to save Greg and destroy that orange-green geek!"

Jupiter Knight ran out of the pool area while Mars and Venus were drawing their swords.

"Come take your best shot, you whistle-piercing zombie!" yelled Venus Knight.

Mars Knight tried to extend his hand over the water to save Greg, but his hand wouldn't reach that far. So he took his sword and extended its handle toward Greg. "Come on Greg, try grabbing the handle!" he said.

Greg was still above the water and slowly trying to make his way toward Mars Knight's sword handle, still under pressure from the music note that was holding him back.

"All right," Venus Knight yelled to Guaranine, "if you won't make your move first, then I will! VENUS LOVE BLADE CHARGE!"

Venus Knight's attack missed, coming to within inches of Guaranine's chest.

"Ha ha! You missed!" she yelled.

Venus Knight tried again. "VENUS LOVE…" was all he could say before he was knocked off of his feet and out cold, thanks to a Sonic Wave attack from Guaranine.

Mars Knight looked at his fallen brother, then focused back on trying to save Greg. "C'mon Greg!" he yelled! "Just a bit further…"

Greg was reaching the handle of Mars Knight's extended sword. He was able to free one arm from the note's intense squeeze and reached for the handle. He got closer… and closer… to within a few inches… until the note's pressure took over, and Greg was sucked down into the water.

"Greg!" Mars Knight yelled as he drew back his sword and was ready to jump in.

"I don't think so!" yelled Guaranine. "SONIC WAVE!"

Mars Knight tried not to fall back, but the pressure from the Sonic Wave was too much. He flew back, smacked his head clear against the wall with tremendous force, and slumped to the ground.

Greg was underwater, struggling to reach the surface, holding his breath for as long as he could.

Greg had enough strength left to lift his head back into the air for a brief moment. He saw Jupiter Knight running in with the Mercury dagger.

Greg had enough time to yell to him, "TOSS IT HERE!" before he was sucked back into the water.

Jupiter Knight tossed the dagger into the water, and then turned around to see that Venus and Mars were knocked out. "You're mine now!" yelled Jupiter Knight.

"Ha, ha, you don't scare me!" Guaranine responded. "SONIC WAVE!"

"JUPITER THUNDER SHIELD CHARGE!"

The Thunder Shield appeared and covered Jupiter Knight enough to protect him from the Sonic Wave… but now Guaranine was constantly hitting him with attacks. Jupiter Knight couldn't move out of the way to see if he could help Greg. All he could do was shield himself… and wait.

Meanwhile, Greg was struggling in the water for a while, trying to move back up… but the music note was dragging him down deeper, like a huge weight. Soon he was several feet deep in water, and the only strength he had left was for holding his breath.

Greg was now too weak to fight the music note.

When he was almost out of it, he thought to himself, it's inevitable now. He breathed out, and said to himself…

I love you, Amy.

Greg then relaxed his body, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth.

Jupiter Knight was still shielding himself against Guaranine's Sonic Wave. The shield had taken a lot of hits by now, and was getting weak.

Guaranine stopped her attacks briefly and said, "This is pointless!"

While Guaranine rambled on about the stalemate situation, Jupiter Knight looked at the pool and noticed that a body was slowly rising up from the bottom of the pool.

"Greg… no, he's not…" he said. "What have you done, Guaranine!"

"He's disposed of now, which means I can turn my attention to the likes of you… and soon… to that Amy Mizuno! Goodbye, Jupiter!"

Jupiter Knight shielded himself once again, bracing for an attack. Then his eyes went wide open at a sight in the water.

"That's right, Jupiter Knight," said Guaranine, "Look around one last time at your life before your disposal!"

Guaranine then felt a tap on her back.

"Huh?" she said, as she turned around.

"Hi there," said Greg, who immediately thrusted his dagger into Guaranine's chest, right into the Negamoon symbol.

"AAAAAGHH!" Guaranine yelled, screaming in pain. "What is this…. This can't be!… Greg should be DEAAAAAD…"

Guaranine's body quickly turned into moon dust, which fell into the water and dissolved.

Venus and Mars were starting to struggle to their feet, and Jupiter Knight was withdrawing his Thunder Shield.

"Hey Greg!" yelled Jupiter Knight. "What happened to you? I thought you were gone!"

Greg was breathing heavily and waded toward the edge where the three other knights were.

"Well, apparently I have something about swimming and water," he replied. "Today I find out that I have a knack for swimming, and… now I just found out… that… I can't drown!"

"You can't… what do you mean, you can't drown?" said a puzzled Venus Knight.

"Beats me, but I find that I can breathe underwater!" replied Greg.

"Are you pulling our leg or something?" asked Jupiter Knight.

"Hmm," thought Mars Knight, "maybe you've got some hyper power or something."

"Good guess," said Jupiter Knight. "If the planet Mercury is symbolized by water, then that explains everything! Greg… and I'm sure Amy too… are connected, or shall I say, harmonized with the water, just like they were long ago."

"So, like, that means I've got something special, too?" asked Mars Knight.

"Well, whatever it is," said Jupiter Knight, "you'll find out soon enough."

"All right guys," said Greg, "now you have a little explaining to do. Why are there just the three of you, plus me? Where are the girls? The sailor scouts?"

"Oh yeah," said Venus Knight, "well the girls wanted to see how we would do on our own. You know, without their help. We won this battle, but clearly there's some more work to do."

"You've got that right," said Greg.

"Well, dude," said Mars Knight, "looks like you're still wet. We'll go back to the girls and tell them how it went, and you can wrap yourself up in a towel."

Greg nodded his head in agreement, and the three knights departed.

Greg made his way to the corner, exited the pool, dried himself, relaxed on the beach chair for ten minutes, and then left for the locker area.

Greg returned to the pool area and headed for the exit. He was dressed in his black pants, with a dark blue dress shirt and black sneakers.

Waiting for him at the exit was his father, dressed in his business suit.

Greg yelled across, "Hi, Dad!"

"Hey, son, I've been waiting for you for a while out here! What happened?"

"Eh… well, I… couldn't resist swimming a little bit more… sorry about that."

"Oh, no need to worry, son," he replied with a smile. "With what I just saw earlier, you deserved the extra swim time!"

"All right, let's go home."

"Uh… not yet…" his father said. "Someone actually stopped by to see you."

Mr. Urawa stepped off to the side, revealing a young woman wearing a long blue dress with a big bow in the back, a white blouse, and an aquamarine choker.

She had short blue hair.

Greg slapped his right hand on his forehead. "You!" he said.

Amy smiled and ran up to embrace him.

"What are you doing here?!" Greg asked.

"Oh…" Amy said, "I just found out that you found a new passion for swimming. A passion that I like, too."

"It's amazing, we have more and more things in common every day, don't we? Oh, by the way, we have some talking to do about earlier today."

"That's right, we've got to work on some things with you and the other guys," Amy replied.

"Hey kids," said Mr. Urawa, "sorry to interrupt here, but I was wondering if you'd all like to go for dinner at the sushi restaurant tonight. My treat!"

Amy nodded her head. "Yes that will be wonderful! Thank you!"

Greg then followed suit. "What's good for Amy is great for me!" Amy blushed.

"Right, then! I'll drive the two of you back," said Mr. Urawa.

As Greg and Amy, arms wrapped around each other's waist, followed Mr. Urawa to the car, Greg whispered something in Amy's ear.

"Say Ames, have you ever tried to breathe underwater?"

Amy stopped. "How… how do you know about that?!"

"I found out today in that battle with the youma. Apparently we have those powers carried over from the past."

Greg opened the car door and held Amy's hand as she proceeded to enter.

Then Greg said to Amy with a smile, "We're like fish! No wonder we're such excellent swimmers…"

Then again, Greg thought to himself as his father started the car, if we were going to a sushi restaurant, I wouldn't want to be a fish…

The Saga of Mercury Chapter 11 - Pandemonium in the Pool 7