Xanthous
16 August 2011
Summary: Someone has put a hit out on Serenity. The problem? She's already dead, they've all died, and have been reborn. Now someone is attempting to complete a job started a millennium ago and all they have to go by is a color.
–
To say that someone should have known this was coming, was an understatement. But really, someone should have known. It wasn't rocket science, and this was much to delicate a matter to be left in the hands of four young girls.
Luckily there was another there, that had a much better understanding of how important all of this was. Or at least of the ramifications.
Usagi got told to duck and cover if she even thought she heard a noise. Seeing as how she didn't want to get hurt, she listened to the advice most ardently. When that wasn't working so well, she got placed into a hole and told to stay there until it was safe, then it was covered by a tree branch and there was a window she could see out of in on one side, and everything else was blocked off. She was safe, and she could still move around pretty freely. This was the best situation she could possibly hope to be in, when she didn't want to even be there.
She saw someone fall, he had blond hair and she had to hold back the gasp as she realized what happened. Then there were heavy footfalls, followed by the same boots, but a lot lighter. They were trudging through the muck, and were angling towards her pretty rapidly for being so well covered, and so smartly too.
There they stopped for a moment, looking unsteadily at the tree, wondering if they should go around, or try to move it, or go over it. She prayed for the first option. But then there was a blast and it sounded close. It hit one of them and she saw another body litter the ground, that's when she took her shot, she'd only have one chance. She fired it off.
–
Later, when people asked about the victory, she would look at them firmly in the eye and say it with a serious face and in a stern tone that would leave them with no thoughts other than about how crucial it had all been. About how much sacrifice they had all shared for this heavy burden.
Then when she was finished, and they understood the weight of the gravity of this situation, she would let out a woop and they would have to cover their ears in an attempt to block the noise after the fact. Then she would do a little dance, and the image would burn their retina. For why shouldn't she be excited?
They had killed the enemy like nobody's business. She would toss it into their face every chance she got. For why wouldn't she? They had thought that she would be dead in the first five seconds of the fight. She outlived them all, and now if they even mentioned anything remotely related to her, she'd be able to give a firm example back, and have witnesses to prove it too.
They tried to debunk her facts, tried to argue that it wasn't her victory alone. She was not the one that had managed to defeat them, that she had help in the form of a very capable partner, and it was that partner that did all the work for her.
Then she'd hit them with something they weren't expecting and she'd tell them off for being such downers.
They would try to come back at her, but it would be easily debunked by her partner and witness, who would also use this opportunity to wipe their smug smiles off their faces. "You hadn't believed in me either. So really, this is where the credit is due. We both proved we're not as incapable on the battle field as you all thought."
"Even so, I would assume having Ami to help you would have been better, at least there, you'd have some brains with you."
"Har har, har."
"You're just jealous. You put your fate in Motoki-kun and each other, and instead of where it should have rested, with the best couple in the world." Usagi held out her hand and it got slapped in agreement. "Oh yeah."
"You got lucky." Then they would back down and pout.
That's how it was most days. Today was no different, but something was a little off. For one, the blond man who attended on everyone and everything wasn't there, instead there were his replacements. Those men were too slow, and not very attentive. So it gave the girls and sole male a chance to talk in a bit more privacy while also complaining about the lack of service.
"Well I think we should have a rematch. There's just something sneaky about hiding in a hole, waiting to ambush us."
"Minako, that's the definition of sneaky." Makoto rolled her eyes. "Though I do agree with her, there should be something in the rules about tampering with nature to fit what you want. Not a pleasant tactic, that one, especially when the Earth is agreeing with its master and covering it up. It wasn't really your own skill that beat us. Next time there will be no lying in wait. If armies did this, then there would be no war."
"A good thing, I image." Usagi mentioned casually. "But he didn't have the Earth help him, I saw him dig it out by his own two hands and pull the tree over me, making sure I had enough room to maneuver, breath and be hidden at the same time. Your argument is weak."
"I still think we should have a rematch."
"I didn't even want to do it the first time."
"You're just scared that you wont be able to do it again, thus proving that we're the better ones, and you just got lucky."
"I'd just forfeit because I don't want to do it, I don't think its fun." Usagi pouted. "That's more up your guys alley. The lot of you can do it again all you want, I'm going to just play video games on my phone then."
Ami cleared her throat. "I enjoy it too, its fascinating all of the different trigonometry and technical methods."
Usagi rolled her eyes. "Of course, but you're a major nerd. You enjoy all these different kinds of things like that. Makoto's got expertise. Rei likes to shoot weapons. Motoki and Mamoru are boys, so they just like guns. Minako... well... Minako's just enthusiastic about anything physical and she's got a control problem."
"Thank you for those sweeping generalizations." Rei muttered. "We do have our softer sides too you know."
"Yeah, I do, that's why we're friends." Usagi grinned at them.
"Suppose you could look at it in that way."
"I think I will ignore that, and not look too closely into what else you could mean by that." Usagi felt Mamoru's hand slip into hers. She smiled up at him.
"And on that notion, I think it's time for some video games before I get sick from all this nauseating romance." Makoto slipped out of the booth to find a Mortal Kombat game.
"I think I threw up a little in my mouth." Rei agreed and disappeared into a row further back.
"I'm getting hives." Ami complained, running towards the bathroom.
Mamoru grinned at Usagi and she snuggled up to him. Their plan had worked out well. They got rid of the pestering girls. Especially ones that wanted Usagi to be in the way of massive welts and bruises, and ones that didn't heal as quickly as theirs. Her ability that day had been all instinctual, she had watched her brother play video games forever and had picked up the minor details others often over-looked. She was quick and sharp, but it wasn't a real battle. In a real battle, it wasn't five of her friends starting on one side of the woods, and her and Mamoru on the other. In a real battle, they were coming hard, and coming quickly and more than just a few against a few, there were many. Usagi had the greatest respect for all those who faced off in that kind of situation.
She really had the greatest respect for her friends too, she just didn't always share it with them. Though they knew, just as she knew that they'd always have her back. That this debate was raging, was only on the surface.
She reached up and cupped Mamoru's cheek. He was her partner not only on the field, but also in crime and in so many other things as well. He was her partner in life. His hand covered hers and held it still as he turned his head and kissed her palm.
Minako squealed. Mamoru and Usagi turned their heads towards the remaining girl still sitting with them, the one they had forgotten about as their world had narrowed in to just the two of them. When they turned their attention back to her, she was sitting forward, elbows on the table, hands linked and chin resting on those and she stared at them with avid fascination and she was about to aw...
"Minako, don't you have a game to beat?" Mamoru gave her a pointed look and then at Usagi's favorite game, her namesake.
"Please... these are all peanuts compared to what I've played before. Anyways, I thought you wanted us to show a softer side."
"Yeah, but somewhere else." Usagi also gave Minako a look, and she was a little more blunt with her meaning. "Go be soft with someone else."
"Someone, somewhere, else, I'm beginning to feel unwanted."
"No." Usagi gasped mockingly. "I love you, but go away."
Minako's shoulders slumped before she hopped up from the bench and bounced away to go to the counter and flirt with the cutest man that was there. Usagi and Mamoru chuckled and they snuggled together again.
Usagi barely noticed Minako spin back around and return to their table, she had forgotten her phone. Where Minako had just been standing, there was a large blast and smoke and when that filtered out, all there was left was a crater. Nobody had been injured. She had been in a space that wasn't occupied by anyone, as if the attack had been meant for her and her alone.
Minako's quick actions had saved herself, not just her unexpected movement, but also her training. She jumped and rolled behind a row of games. Another blast rickoshayed through the arcade, destroying the top half of the machines she hid behind. She slinked along the ground, trying to loose the thing after her. Hiding from it, confusing it, making it seem like she could be anywhere.
Mamoru meanwhile, as soon as the noise was heard, long before it made contact, pulled Usagi under the table, pressed her against the sold frame of the bench and covered the rest of her with his body, tucking her head securely between their bodies. By the time the place stopped shaking, she was completely unscathed.
The arcade didn't have a single scratch on it, other than the few places that Minako had last been seen. Usagi struggled to get a look, she was terrified for her friend, she fought to be free, but Mamoru shoved her back down. She was safe so long as she was hidden.
The other girls were alerted just as quickly and Ami who was the the most hidden from view, was the first one back on the scene. Rei and Makoto disappeared and came back. All three of them were dressed very differently and took a stance in front of the destruction. They would have sent blasts back but they weren't sure where to send them. There was no way to know what or who was shooting at Minako. They had the general idea though, the trajectory of the blasts origin, but there was so much city beyond these glass windows. They didn't want to risk hitting anyone.
Usagi didn't know it, but they'd managed to stand between her and the blasts too. Mamoru was talking to her, while keeping her trapped, his hands on either side of her, and his head bowed over hers. He wasn't taking any chances either. "Calm down, they'll handle this. Minako's fine."
"You can't know that." She argued. "I have to help her."
"How?" He asked, not with an angry tone, but trying to debunk her nicely. "You can't do anything, not like they can."
She still struggled, really not wanting to sit and do nothing. This was almost as invasive as attacking her home, this was one of her sanctuaries. This is where all her friends gathered together, all of them. They were all like her family, hell even her family came here sometimes. Her brother most often. "I have to do something."
"Here, I'll let you have a look, but you have to stay here." He shifted, so she could have a look over his shoulder. The chaos seemed to have stilled, otherwise he never would have moved even a fraction away from her safety.
Minako was barely visible on the corner of one game, and only from Usagi's angle. Minako smiled and waved her down. Minako was fine. Usagi took a deep breath of relief. Usagi nodded back. Minako scrambled around another game, and out of Usagi's view. However Usagi now knew her friend was ok and she could relax a little. Her other three friends were in the line of fire but thankfully, they were prepared for it.
Mamoru wanted to move her, move her away, go somewhere safer, but right now this was the safest place. The attacker didn't know they were there, and to move would be loosing their shelter. But he had to prepare, had to make her ready to move. He took her face in his hands and held it still. "When I tell you, be ready to move." It was in case a stray blast made its way towards them. So far the attacks had been very directed and contained. That didn't mean it wouldn't get ugly, and fast.
"Mamo-chan." She whimpered, confused and unsure. This was the first time she had been in a situation like this. She would do whatever she could, whatever he told her to do, but she had no experience, wasn't sure if she could do it. She clung to his shirt at his sides, her fingers digging into the flesh there. She was scared, and she'd admit it freely.
"You'll be great." He reassured, his voice coming from right next to her ear, and it was reassuring, the heat and the closeness. He was with her, and he'd never let her fail, never let anything happen to her. She felt his confidence for her, and felt her own grow. She gave a short nod, before she heard a familiar speech. She had never seen it in person, but she knew them all, found them entertaining.
The battle seemed to be over, even as Minako called out for the enemy to show itself. But it never did. After a few minutes, with nobody moving, and all eyes and other senses alert, did things finally settle down. The girls started to fan out, moving further and further into the street beyond the arcade. The street that was devoid of pedestrians and traffic, made so by the noise and danger that had taken place not too long before.
The attack was over, but Mamoru and the girls weren't taking any chances. Mamoru herded Usagi out the back while Ami provided a smoke screen, or rather a fog screen. Usagi was carted back to Rei's temple and by the time they got there, the others were just coming up on their tail, but taking the longer way there.
Then she was party to a situation she was all too familiar with, the after the attack debriefing. This time though, was a little different, for they had no idea what just happened, and instead Minako got fawned over for a change, while a plan was being formed to ensure that was all it was, whatever it was.