Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Saga of Mercury ❯ Contest Time ( Chapter 17 )

The Saga of Mercury

Chapter 17

"Contest Time"

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

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.

WARNING! DUE TO A GRAPHIC SCENE AND SOME SMALL INNUENDO,

THE PG-13 RATING OF THIS STORY IS STRICTLY ENFORCED IN THIS CHAPTER.

THIS SECTION OF THE STORY IS RECOMMENDED FOR READERS OVER THE AGE OF 13.

BY CONTINUING TO READ, YOU AGREE THAT THE AUTHOR SHALL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ACTIONS OR CONSEQUENCES ON YOUR BEHALF AS A RESULT OF READING THIS SECTION.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Chapter 17 - Contest Time

"CHECKMATE!" yelled Amy.

Greg's mouth gaped open. Amy had just beaten him in a round of chess.

"I don't… get it…" said a puzzled Greg. "Where did I go wrong?"

"Perhaps…" Amy started.

"Ahhh," said Greg, "I think I remember what it was."

Yep, he said to himself. A few moves ago, I was in a limbo, and I was trying to find the right move. I knew I should have moved the pawn, but I was scrambling… I was looking all around… and I… looked at Amy's… Amy's… uh… er… um… and I… captured her bishop… which was then captured by her queen…

"Oh good grief," said Greg out loud, "I knew I shouldn't have done that."

"Shouldn't have done what?" asked Amy.

"Uhh… n-nothing, Ames, don't worry about it," said Greg rapidly, "it was a minor mistake on my part, I was…"

The doorbell of the Urawa residence interrupted Greg's voice.

"I'll get it," said Greg, jumping up and sprinting toward the door.

Wow, Amy thought to herself, putting that thoughtful look on her face. How did Greg goof up on that bishop?

Wow, Greg thought to himself. Saved by the bell… literally…

Greg looked through the door-hole…

It was Chad.

Greg swung the door open and greeted him.

Chad was wearing a light green headband, a red jacket, red sweatpants and white sneakers. His head was perspiring, and he was running in place, breathing heavily, when he spoke to Greg.

"What's up, Greg?"

"What's up with you?"

"Ah, nothing, Raye and I decided to do some running around your neighborhood… you know, work out and stuff… and I thought I'd stop by briefly to tell you something. This is something that you and Amy might be interested in, so you might want to tell her the next time you see her."

"Hey, hang on a sec, Amy's here…" said Greg, who called Amy to the front door.

"Oh, hi, Chad!" said Amy. "Working out?"

"Yep, I've gotta impress Raye, and I think Raye wants to impress me…" Chad said with a smile. "Anyway, there's a huge IQ contest going on - there's a contest to find the smartest young people in the country. I'm obviously not that smart, I mean… I don't know the difference between a van and a gas tank… but I thought I'd let you know about it. They're talking all about it in the papers…"

Chad was interrupted by a familiar voice, who was yelling at him from a short distance.

"Come on, Chad!" said Raye, 50 yards down the block, her long, black hair tied in a ponytail for the exercise. "We gotta keep on running so we don't miss the train! Hurry!"

"I'm outta here, guys, cya!" Chad said before turning around and running toward Raye.

"Bye, Chad!" said Greg.

Greg and Amy waved at Chad, and at Raye, as they ran down the block and around the corner until they were out of sight.

"I wonder what gets into those two, running around here," said Amy.

"My house is beautiful, that's why!" said a smiling Greg.

"OH, STOP," said Amy. "Anyway, do you still have today's newspaper?"

"Uh… yes I think so… let me go to the living room to check."

Greg went to the living room while Amy went back to the den.

Greg returned to the den with the Prefecture's newspaper, and flipped through the pages until he saw the advertisement for the contest.

"IQ contest to highlight competition discovering the hidden talents in young Japanese people," Amy read out loud as she looked at the ad. "Different contests will be held in singing, IQ, dance… hey, Greg, it's not just IQ contests, it's a lot of other contests, too."

"Hey, not bad!" replied Greg.

Amy continued: "Contests to be held in three days at the Fukuoka Center… top prize in each category is 125,000 yen!"

Greg then snapped, "Well let me test my IQ now… that would be… about a thousand American dollars, eh?"

"You're right," responded Amy. "Say, that's a good thing for the two of us to try, don't you think?"

"Well, sure!" said Greg. "There's also… a singing contest, which Raye would be interested in, and a dance contest… do we know anyone who dances?"

"Mina is an excellent ballerina," said Amy.

"OK," said Greg, "There is no school on the day of the contest, and the two of us seem to be all right with this … so when we see the others tomorrow, we'll bring this up."

Meanwhile, back in the Negaverse…

Sorinya had the same newspaper that Greg was reading, and browsed over the advertisement.

"So," said Sorinya, "there's a contest with many people of different talents competing… what a perfect opportunity to collect energy in my quest to get rid of Amy Mizuno!"

Sorinya snapped her fingers. A puff of green smoke appeared in front of Sorinya, revealing a large purple and orange mechanical figure that could easily be confused for one of those Transformers figures. On the figure's steel-plated chest was a black, inverted Negamoon symbol.

"COMSTRON… CHAMPION OF NEGAVERSE… AT YOUR SERVICE… SORINYA…" the machine said in a deep, low, robotic-toned voice.

"Comstron," said Sorinya, "I have a bone to pick with the people coming together for that gifted competition three days from now. Their talents use precious energy, which we can harvest for our own purposes. See what you can do about that."

"AS YOU WISH…" replied Comstron. "I WILL… I WILL… I WILL…"

Sorinya banged hard against Comstron's side. "Oh, stop acting up, you bucket of bolts! Do not disappoint me!"

"I WILL SCOUT THE AREA OF THE COMPETITION…" said Comstron, disappearing in another puff of green smoke.

That evening, the clan of scouts and knights met in benches on a main street in the busy and active Roppongi area.

"There's no question about it," said Darien, pointing to Amy and Greg. "If there's going to be a tie in that IQ contest, it'll be you two."

"Darien, are you sure about that?" asked Greg.

"Is he SURE about that?" said Serena. "If my Darien says he's sure about it, then it's gonna happen!" she said, resting her hands on Darien's left shoulder and staring intensely at him.

"Yeah!" responded Rini, who placed her hands on Darien's other shoulder and brought that shoulder down to her level.

Jamie, seeing Darien in this awkward, slanted position, said, "Here we go again…"

"Ah… Anyway," said Greg, "Not only is there an IQ contest, there's also a singing contest and a dance contest."

"Dance contest?" said Jamie. "Well, there's only one good dancer around here, and I'm looking at her."

Mina was shivering a bit when hearing Jamie's words.

"What's the matter?" asked Lita.

"I… I haven't been dancing in a while… I don't think I'll be as good as I used to be…" said Mina.

"You don't think so?" said Ken. "Hey, listen, Lita has shown me photos of you from a few years ago, shortly after you revealed yourself as Venus to the other four scouts." Ken chuckled. "You were Clare in the Nutcracker, for crying out loud! Only the best ballerinas can play Clare."

"It's just like I've told Ken," said Lita, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. Take an hour or two after studying tomorrow to practice… then if you feel like you can do it, go to the competition's web site and sign yourself in!"

"I've seen their web site," said Amy, "and you can register up to the hour before the contest starts!"

Mina thought for a moment, then lifted her head high and said, "Yeah, why not! I'm beautiful AND I'm talented! Ha-ha!"

Everyone had sweatdrops on their heads upon hearing this comment, except for Jamie, who smiled, put his arm around his princess, and said, "That's my Mina!"

"Y…yeah… all right, then," said Greg.

Greg looked up to the sky, and said… "There's also a singing contest there, and… wow…"

Greg turned to the young woman with long, black hair. "Boy, it's a starry night tonight, isn't it, RAYE?"

"Uh… sure it is… OH. I get it," Raye said, smiling, "you think I can sing `Oh Starry Night' at the competition? I don't know…"

"Let's face it, Raye," said Greg, "Oh Starry Night, according to what Amy and the other girls have told me, is the most popular song that you've written and sung… and think about it… all you have to do is sing. There's no preparing the cameras or the lights or anything, and…"

"AND," interrupted Chad, "I haven't heard you sing that song. All I've heard is some humming in the temple, and that's basically it. Come on Raye… make me proud for a change."

Raye smiled. "Oh, all right. I'll do it just for you, Chad."

Chad responded, "All right! Hey, is this wicked cool or what?"

Greg stared at Chad, then said to everyone else, "So it's in three days, and we don't have any school or college or anything, so if the four of us decide to enter, I'd like to know if the rest of you can come on over to cheer us on."

"That's cool with me!" said Chad.

"Four friends to cheer on? That's quadruple the fun!" said Lita.

"I'm with Lita," said Ken.

"If it's all right with Darien, it's all right with me!" said Serena AND Rini, simultaneously.

Darien, shoulders awkward for minutes, nodded his head in agreement, a sweatdrop on his head.

"SO!" said Sorinya in the Negaverse. "Four of the scouts, including that brat Amy, are going to participate in this competition! I'll make sure right now that they don't participate!"

As Greg finished talking, someone from across the street yelled, "AAH!! IT'S A MONSTER!"

Greg turned his head to the man who screamed. "Monster?" he said.

Greg and the others soon found everyone in the busy area running for their lives.

The group looked down the street to see a large orange and purple figure walking their way.

"COMSTRON… COMSTRON" the figure said, pointing his hand and aiming his laser beam to collect any energy that was in his path. Some people were caught by this beam, and slumped to the ground, out cold, when the laser hit them, their energy gone. The laser beam even hit some trees as well… the leaves withered and fell to the ground when the energy from the trees were zapped out.

"COMSTRON… ENERGY!" the figure roared.

The group of scouts and knights took a step back… but to no avail. Soon Amy and Greg were caught with the large figure's laser beam.

Amy landed unconscious on the floor, while Greg fell and landed on his hands, head shaking, struggling to stay awake.

"AMY!" yelled Rini.

"GREG!" yelled Chad.

"Guys," said Jamie, "I think it's about time we do something about this!"

"Let's go!" said Darien.

Darien held out his rose, while everyone else who was still alert took out his or her respective transformation pieces: Serena and Rini, their brooches; Raye, Lita and Mina, their pens; and Chad, Ken and Jamie, their daggers.

"MARS STAR POWER!"

"MARS KNIGHT POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER KNIGHT POWER!"

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"VENUS KNIGHT POWER!"

"MOON PRISM POWER!"

"MOON COSMIC POWER!"

Darien threw his rose into the air, and caught it two seconds later - having transformed into Tuxedo Mask.

"Stop right there!" yelled a familiar-looking meatball head. "You have no right to steal the energy from innocent people on the streets. Give it back, or you're gonna pay! I am the pretty-suited sailor soldier of love and justice, SAILOR MOON!"

"I am the soldier of fire… I'm SAILOR MARS!"

"I am the soldier of thunder and lightning, I'm SAILOR JUPITER!"

"I am the soldier of love and beauty, I'm SAILOR VENUS, and I think you look horrible!"

"WE ARE THE KNIGHTS," said Mars Knight, Jupiter Knight and Venus Knight, "DEFENDERS OF THE INNER PLANETS!"

"My name is TUXEDO MASK, and I'll do whatever it takes for you to spit out that energy!"

"Why am I always last? Oh well. I am the sailor soldier in training, SAILOR MINI MOON!"

"And we shall punish you," said Sailor Moon, "in the name of the Moon!"

"ME… COMSTRON… SAILOR… MOON… DESTROY!" said the robotic voice from the machine that was getting closer and closer to the throng of heroes.

"I'll go first," said Sailor Venus to the others. "If there's one thing I hate, it's an evil machine - especially an ugly one!"

Sailor Venus ran up to Comstron and delivered her hardest right hook on its chest.

But the sound of her fist hitting Comstron's chest was like a hammer striking an anvil.

Sailor Venus let out the loudest scream as she fell to the ground, her left hand tightly grasping her right one. Her eyes were watery and her teeth were clenched from the tremendous amount of pain that she felt.

"MINA!" yelled Venus Knight as he ran toward her.

Comstron continued on his way toward the others, seemingly forgetting that Sailor Venus was even there. The machine didn't even react when Venus Knight went right past to tend to Sailor Venus.

Tuxedo Mask threw a rose at Comstron… but the rose fell to the ground following its impact on Comstron's chest.

"Why don't you an I try to short this one out," said Jupiter Knight to Sailor Jupiter.

"Worth a try. SUPREME THUNDER!"

"JUPITER THUNDER BLADE CHARGE!"

Bolts of thunder shot straight at Comstron. Comstron stood still, shook a bit, and then said…

"TIME TO DESTROY… TIME TO DESTROY… TIME TO… TIME… TIME… TIME… TIME… TIME…"

Sailor Moon looked at Tuxedo Mask as Comstron repeated the word "Time."

Meanwhile, Venus Knight was kneeling on the ground, holding his princess in his arms. He removed Sailor Venus' right glove, and saw that the fingers on her hand were bent in awkward directions, blood oozing out.

Sailor Venus was crying in pain, her tears soaking right into the uniform of Venus Knight.

Venus Knight did his best to console her. "Come on… come on… hang in there… we'll take care of it…"

"LEAVE IT ALONE… PLEASE…" she said through the tears.

On the other end of the spectrum, Greg was able to sit up despite the tremendous energy attack. He was very weak, but was able to slide his way toward Amy and hold her. Amy was slowly waking up.

"W.. wh… wha…" were the voices coming out of Amy's mouth.

"Ssh…" said Greg quietly. "Save your strength…"

Sailor Moon, in the meantime, was stunned when she saw that her Spiral Heart Attack had failed. Comstron was still there, repeating the word "Time." His words were starting to disorientate everyone.

"FIRE SOUL!" yelled Sailor Mars.

The ball of fire sent from Sailor Mars struck Comstron's chest. The impact was so strong that his chest began to melt.

"That's for starters," said Sailor Mars.

"Now what?" said Mars Knight.

"The Super Attack!" yelled Mini Moon.

"Super attack?" asked Sailor Moon.

"She must mean the attack from the four knights," said Tuxedo Mask.

"Right!" yelled Jupiter Knight. "But… wait a minute… there are only two of us!"

"Yeah," said Mars Knight, "Venus is over with Mina, and Mercury… well he hasn't transformed yet… he's with Amy."

"We'd better get the others over here," said Tuxedo Mask, "and fast. Comstron might build up strength again."

"Right!" said the others in unison.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars and Mars Knight ran over to Sailor Venus and Venus Knight.

Sailor Moon gasped in shock when she saw what had happened to Sailor Venus' hand.

"Whoa…" said Mars Knight.

"Venus Knight, you have to get with the other knights to do the super attack on the monster," said Sailor Mars.

"Wha…" said Venus Knight, looking at Sailor Venus, "I don't want to leave her!"

Sailor Venus, still in pain, was able to utter to her knight, "I'll… be… just fine…"

Venus Knight looked up to the others. "… promise you'll take care of Mina then?"

"You have our word," said Sailor Mars.

Venus Knight nodded, and lightly kissed Sailor Venus' cheek. "I'll be back in a minute," he said, as he joined Mars Knight and ran back.

Meanwhile, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Mini Moon, Sailor Jupiter and Jupiter Knight were tending to Amy and Greg.

"Greg," said Tuxedo Mask, you need to get with the other knights for the super attack."

Greg was still shaking somewhat, but held Amy tighter when he heard this.

"No…" said Greg. "I… I won't leave her."

"You have to leave her," said Jupiter Knight. "Without you, the super attack doesn't mean squat. The other three will keep an eye on her, don't worry."

Greg didn't want to leave Amy… he wanted to get rid of the monster and save the lives of the other citizens whose energy was zapped… but Amy was too important.

"Don't worry about me," said a soft voice.

Greg looked down at Amy, who reached up to kiss him. "You be strong, okay?" she asked.

"All right," said Greg. "You too."

Greg gave Amy over to Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Jupiter, then stood up. He wobbled a bit to the side, then straightened himself, winked and smiled to Sailor Mini Moon, and pulled out his dagger. He got one last look at Amy before saying "MERCURY KNIGHT POWER!"

Mercury Knight and Jupiter Knight ran over to the spot where Mars Knight and Venus Knight were.

"Gentlemen," said a rejuvenated Mercury Knight, "we have a task at hand."

"Let's finish this guy off… or machine… or whatever," responded Mars Knight.

The knights could see that Comstron's chest was starting to gain strength again, so they quickly drew their swords and moved into position.

"MERCURY ICE BLADE!"

"MARS FIRE BLADE!"

"JUPITER THUNDER BLADE!"

"VENUS LOVE BLADE!"

With swords in position, Mercury Knight was about to yell `Super Attack', when…

"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!"

Mercury Knight looked and saw Comstron get blanketed in a thick sheet of ice.

The knights turned their head… to see Sailor Mercury.

Mercury Knight opened his eyes wide. "YOU!" he said.

"That should help," said Sailor Mercury with a smile.

"Hey, I don't know," said Mars Knight. "He's bounced back everything we've thrown at him."

"Yes…" said Mercury Knight. "But…"

Comstron was beginning to crack through the ice.

"Come on Mercury!" yelled Venus Knight. "Are you gonna yell `Super Attack' or what?"

"Wait up," said Mercury Knight, who was beginning to smile. "I think I'll wait until just the right moment…"

Mercury Knight then winked at Sailor Mercury, who winked back.

Indeed, Sailor Mercury and Mercury Knight knew what was going to happen, as they saw Comstron begin to stiffen up and turn a reddish-brown color.

"Gentlemen, did they ever teach you in chemistry class what happens when water touches steel?" said Mercury Knight.

"RUST!" yelled Jupiter Knight.

"Well whaddya know?" said Mars Knight. "He's turning into a rusted bucket of bolts!"

"All right!" said Venus Knight. "Greg, just let us know when…"

"NOW!" said Mercury Knight. "SUPER ATTACK!"

The knights saw their swords begin to glow in reaction to Mercury Knight's words.

"Ready… set… GO!" yelled Mercury Knight.

Which prompted all of the knights to yell in unison, "CHARGE!"

The rays of rainbow lights left their origin and shot rapidly at their destination… Comstron's chest.

There was nothing the machine could really do now, with his entire exterior all rusted up.

The intense force of the super attack broke through the ice, hit Comstron's chest, and vaporized him into exploding green smoke.

The knights cheered, and withdrew their swords.

Sailor Mercury ran to the knights. "See? I told you I would be fine!"

"Yeah, `be strong', that's all that we needed," said Mercury Knight.

Then Venus Knight suddenly realized…

"MINA!"

Venus Knight almost forgot that his princess had been injured in the attack.

Venus Knight began to run where Sailor Venus last was… but stopped after a few steps, when he saw something amazing twirl toward him.

He saw a joyful-looking Sailor Venus do pirouettes on the tips of her orange shoes, smiling and twirling her arms and hands as she spun her way toward him.

Behind Sailor Venus was Sailor Moon, with her moon rod, and Sailor Mars.

Sailor Venus stopped in front of her knight and gave him three kisses on the cheek.

"MWA! MWA! MWA! I'm much better!" she said, showing Venus Knight her injured hand… that was now much better. She flexed and bended her fingers around with much dexterity and ease. "Thanks to Sailor Moon's spiral healing!"

After everyone found themselves to be all right, they de-transformed and immediately went their separate ways. After all, time was ticking, and four of them would have to put their skills to their test in only three days.

The Saga of Mercury Chapter 17 - Contest Time 2

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