Light of Darkness
Chapter 4
The Hidden Side
One Week after the first encounter
Everyone is at school minus Setsuna, and Mamoru, Rick is also at school cause Atsuka made him, the other Ethereals are at the police station doing whatever they darn well pleased.
Usagi and the others minus Minako were eating lunch in the school cafeteria, Haruka and Michiru are there with them discussing their meeting with the Light Justice Society.
"I'm still not sure if I can trust them" Haruka growled.
"Haruka, these people are nice, they saved us and are warriors of the 'light' just like us" Usagi argued back. "Besides you distrust almost everyone, you even hate Atsuka-sensei, and he's taking time to train us to fight better".
"I think Haruka hates Atsuka-sensei for different reasons" Michiru teased.
"What are you implying Michiru?" Haruka asked rather darkly.
"Oh nothing" Michiru giggled.
"Come on, what harm could it do? You can even bring Hotaru with you, maybe they have some kids there around her age" Rei suggested.
Haruka seemed to give this some thought. "Well I guess it couldn't hurt anything, besides if the enemies you told us about are as or more powerful than you described, then working with the Light Justice Society wouldn't be a bad idea."
"What about Setsuna?" Ami asked.
"She told me she's busy with work that day, so she won't be able to meet with them, but asked us to send her regards" Michiru answered.
"And what of Mamoru?" Makoto asked Usagi.
"He'll be able to come, he just doesn't know if they will like him or not, as 'Tuxedo Mask' he doesn't hold a lot of power" Usagi explained.
"That is kinda true, but he is a good fighter, even Atsuka yesterday complimented on how fit he was" Makoto stated.
"Oh, sounds like someone has taken a fancy to Atsuka-sensei" Usagi teased nudging Makoto with her elbow.
"NO I DON'T, HE'S JUST A GOOD TEACHER, AND I HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT FOR HIM!" Makoto cried which wasn't a stretch of the truth but she couldn't help but quietly admit a deeper admiration for him.
As they were continuing the discussion, Minako walked up to them, with several tickets clutched in her hand, with a huge smirk on her face like she had just won 100 million yen (1 million dollars for those who don't know dollar-yen conversion).
"Hey Minako" Makoto called as she was the first to see Minako trotting up to them. "What's made you so happy?" Makoto asked.
"Guess who I ran into" Minako asked.
"Let me guess, a hot guy" Rei answered in a bored tone.
"Yes, but that's not the answer I'm looking for" Minako answered.
"I give up. Who?" Makoto asked.
"Rick" Minako answered.
"What, Rick's in school today?" Ami asked.
"Yup, and guess what he gave me" Minako asked out loud again.
"Judging from the tickets in your hand, I'd guess the tickets to his bands concert that he promised a while ago" Ami answered.
"YES!" Minako cried with joy.
"How many did he give you?" Michiru asked.
"He gave me 11" Minako answered.
"11!" Haruka cried.
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Minako answered.
"Does he expect me to go?" Haruka whined.
"What? You don't want to go?" Minako pouted glaring at Haruka.
"Why would I want to go see their band, it doesn't matter to me how good they are, I don't want anything to do with Atsuka" Haruka argued.
"But it took a lot for Rick to get us these tickets" Minako complained.
"Give it up Minako, nothing is going to change Haruka's mind once it's made up" Michiru answered.
"Well, guess I can invite a boy to come with me then" Minako sneered.
"I guess that would be a good idea" Ami answered.
BANG!
SCREAMS!
"What was that!" Haruka exclaimed.
BAM!
Someone kicked open the doors leading to the cafeteria, letting it two men armed with shotguns.
"EVERYONE ON THE FLOOR NOW!"
BANG BANG BANG!
The man fired into the ceiling scaring everyone onto the floor as the two men had ordered.
"What's going on?" Usagi asked, now realizing that it was a good thing that Rini was in a different school.
"I don't know, it doesn't look like students committing a shooting" Ami answered.
"But then what do they want with us?" Makoto asked.
"Beats me, maybe money" Ami answered.
"Should we take these two out?" Makoto asked.
"NO!" Rei exclaimed catching Makoto's attention, but thankfully with all the chaos going on the two armed gunmen didn't take notice of her.
"Makoto if you do anything rash these two could hurt others or kill you" Rei answered. "For now where just gonna have to wait it out".
Meanwhile at the Police headquarters
"ATSUKA-SENSEI!" A police officer cried as he rushed into the dojo.
"FOR HEAVEN SAKES WHAT DO YOU WANT! AND IT BETTER BE GOOD!" Atsuka warned standing in front of 50+ police officers in training gi's responding to Atsuka's instructions.
"I'm sorry Atsuka-sensei, but please" the officer bowed as he handed Atsuka a letter.
Atsuka began to read the letter out loud as he contemplated torturing the officer who just disturbed his class. "Several armed gunmen have taken a local highschool, Rick, and a number of your students have been confirmed to be inside, the one leading them, is believed to be one Garluk Gorsen, Chief Sakurai requests your presence with the response squad immediately. Garluk Gorsen huh" Atsuka sighed as he gave the letter back to the officer.
"Thank-you sensei" the officer said thinking he just got out of any possible punishment.
"Get, Hyouko to take over training, and officer" Atsuka said.
"Yes sensei?" the officer answered feeling his stomach lurch.
"I'm still gonna punish you for interrupting my class" Atsuka hissed evilly.
"Y-yes sensei" the officer began to cry.
10 minutes later with the response squad
"You called Chief" Atsuka announced himself as he stepped into the command vehicle.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG ATSUKA!" Chief Sakurai cried in irritation.
"I took the train, what, you expect me to walk all the way here?" Atsuka answered sounding rather unconcerned. Chief Sakurai knew better than to challenge Atsuka on that even if he knew Atsuka was lying.
"Anyway Atsuka we need your help, all entrances are blocked and guarded, plus we don't know how many men there are in there, so raiding could cost the lives of many students" the chief explained.
Atsuka stayed silent for a few seconds then answered. "Not interested" Atsuka said as he turned and began to walk away.
"WHAT!" Chief Sakurai cried. "BUT ATSUKA YOU MUST!"
"Why!" Atsuka asked sounding more annoyed. "There is nothing in the contract I signed that said that I was obligated to help the police when a tough situation emerges" Atsuka answered.
"But what about Garluk?" the Chief asked.
"What about him, he's a weakling even by the Seven Ring's standards, even though he's not allowed to be here, of what concern is it to me, you and your police should be more than enough" Atsuka answered.
"But him being here makes him your concern" Chief Sakurai argued.
"Only if I consider him a threat, which since you all are dealing with him, I don't consider him as such" Atsuka answered.
"What about the girls that you're teaching?" Chief Sakurai asked.
"What of them? They're annoying, and besides, I'm sure they'll be fine" Atsuka retorted.
"You do know Rick is in there right?" Chief Sakurai asked.
"Yeah, so? Rick can take care of himself" Atsuka answered.
"Well, there is one last reason why you should help" Chief Sakurai said smirking.
"And what is that?" Atsuka asked not really concerned despite the Chief's smirk.
"Well, Rick, put up a few favors to get the girls tickets to your bands next concert" the Chief began.
"WHAT!" Atsuka cried. "WHAT DID HE OFFER!"
"He told me that he offered your services to the studio's manager if the girl's didn't show up" the Chief explained. "And your concerts in a few hours, which means you'll be playing without Rick if we don't get this resolved soon, and you'll be a temporary work slave to the studio manager."
"HE DIDN'T!" Atsuka growled eyes glowing with anger. The Studio manager is a flamboyant fat man who seems to like teasing and bothering Atsuka. Though the man never did hint anything lewd or disgusting towards Atsuka, the man's nature in and of itself was enough to royally piss of Atsuka.
"Yes he did" the Chief smirked.
"GRRRRRR! Fine" Atsuka sighed in defeat. "I'll get in, but don't expect many of them to come out alive" Atsuka growled.
"I didn't expect any less" the Chief smiled knowing that Atsuka would most likely kill half of the gunmen due to rage of Rick's deal.
Atsuka left the vehicle and wondered off in a direction towards the side of the school.
"Um, Chief" an officer in the vehicle asked.
"Yes officer?" the Chief asked.
"Rick didn't make that deal did he?" the officer asked.
"No, Rick just asked me for a lot of money to buy the tickets, and that just made it worth every yen" the Chief smiled.
"Then should I prepare body bags?" the officer asked.
"Yes, and a lot of them" the Chief answered.
Meanwhile inside the school
In the cafeteria the rest of the student body was being gathered due to the cafeteria being in the middle of the school and was easiest to hold all the students hostage. The girls counted roughly thirty men, only a handful of them had guns, the rest seemed to have sticks and or a blade of some kind. They were grouped around a man they called "Garluk".
"Garluk, we've successfully captured all the students, now it's all up to you" one of the gunmen said.
"Don't worry about it, just make sure the school is secure, and switch with the guards every now and then, and don't let the students fight back, if any of them do, make an example of a few of them" Garluk said being vague on purpose. Those words made shivers go down the students spines. "In the meantime, I'll go and start the negotiation" and at that Garluk left.
"How many of them do you think there are?" Rei asked Ami.
"Well, there's roughly thirty here, and there are five entrances and exits, averaging two to five each exit, I'd guess 40-50" Ami answered.
"That's a lot of men" a familiar voice agreed.
"Huh?" Everyone turned to look at the person who spoke.
"Rick" Minako whispered surprised. "You're alright"
"Of course, I wouldn't dare try taking on all these men, not without a partner or two" Rick explained.
"You're not strong enough to take care of these guys?" Makoto asked.
"Not without risking the lives of everyone here" Rick answered.
"Oh" Makoto sighed.
"This is definitely bad, assuming my brother doesn't get involved, we may end up missing the concert later" Rick sighed.
"Oh no" Minako began to cry.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it will work out somehow" Rick said trying to comfort Minako.
"But one thing is certain" Ami began. "With this many men, the police wouldn't dare conduct a raid"
"True" Rick agreed.
"You don't sound confident of Atsuka coming to help us" Haruka said.
"Yeah, Atsuka isn't interested in participating in many police actions, he just doesn't have much motivation for it for reasons unknown to me. Above all else it's not part of his contract." Rick sighed.
"Yet he's a powerful martial artist" Makoto said quizzically.
"I know, but he was at one point much more outgoing" Rick said.
"Well for now, all we can do is continue to wait it out" Ami said.
They watched as one of the thugs increasingly began to hassle to students, especially the female students.
"Let's hope this happens soon, or we'll be in bigger trouble" Rei added.
Meanwhile in another part of the school
"Geez, I get roped into this situation, and there's a lot more men than I bargained for, I guess roughly, twenty people, but for there to be more than thirty is ridiculous" Atsuka sighed. "Ugh, anyway, I need to get the students safe, they're all held in the cafeteria, along with Rick and my other students. There's roughly 10-20 men guarding the doors, leaving the rest of the men guarding the students, well, I guess my first goal is to get the bulk of the men out and away from the students" Atsuka sighed as he began to study the hallway quickly formulating a plan.
"HEY!" Atsuka turned to see an armed gunman pointing his gun at him. "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!"
"Oh, this is going to be fun" Atsuka sighed, as he suddenly turned and ran.
Meanwhile in the cafeteria
The one thug was continuing to hassle the girls and point a blade at their faces, threatening them, making rather disgusting remarks. This however sent Haruka over the edge.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Haruka yelled.
The thug and several other men looked at Haruka with amused smiles. "Oh, and what are you going to do about it boy?" the thug challenged.
Haruka wanted to beat the man badly, but she knew that no matter how much she wanted it, she couldn't attack them without risking the rest of the students there. She could only glare back and growl at the men.
"Oh, we have a spirited one here, and at least smart enough to know not to screw around with us" the thug teased. Haruka was only happy that they thought she was boy or she may end up accelerating what they were intending to do, though whether that was kill a few of them or something else, she couldn't bring herself to guess.
"So then boys, what should we do with this fool" another thug asked out loud. "Should we kill a few of the students to show how serious we are, or should we torture you so you don't speak out again?" Haruka could only growl a response as the thugs got closer.
"WELL!" the closest thug yelled as he grabbed Haruka by the scruff of her sweater and pulled her towards him. The man glared at her trying to intimidate her. Haruka could only continue to glare back, not daring to look frightened.
"I say we make an example of this idiot" another man said as he pulled out a knife.
"What do you suggest?" the thug holding Haruka asked.
"I say we carve out his heart, and show what good it does to the rest of the students" the thug suggested.
"Sounds good" the thug said as he hoisted Haruka up and dragged her to a nearby table. The thug slammed Haruka down onto the table as a second thug held Haruka's hands up to prevent her from struggling.
A third thug walked up to her with a large hunting knife in hand. The man licked his lips as he anticipated the moment he would cut her open. Haruka only grew more frightened that the thugs would soon find out that she wasn't a guy, and that she was a girl. If they found out, they might still cut her open, or they would do worse things to her, she now was getting scared.
"No Haruka" Michiru whispered horrified as Haruka was being pinned down and a man with a knife approaching her. The other girls were just as horrified and unable to think of what to do, Rick was no different as he desperately looked around for an answer.
BANG!
A distant gunshot echoed throughout the halls outside of the cafeteria, forcing everyone to freeze and stop what they were doing, even the thugs.
Suddenly a voice cried over the radio on one of the thugs. "We've got a student, he's running towards the fourth floor, he's fast, I need help"
"We're you now?" a thug answered the radio.
"I'm entering the fourth GAH!" the man on the other end of the radio grunted as something must have hit him. Suddenly a huge series of sounds ensued. "GAH, wha, crash, smack, BANG, BANG, CRASH! SMACK, AH! SMACK, CRACK, CRASH, BANG BANG BANG! CRACK!...FLUMP!" the sound of a body hitting the floor over the radio made many students feel sick.
"Hey!, you there?" the thug asked over the radio, then a calm reply was returned.
"Say hello to Garluk for me" an unfamiliar voice said.
"GET TWENTY MEN UP TO THE FOURTH FLOOR AND FIND THAT BASTARD!" the man with the radio cried. Quickly twenty men broke off and rushed out the doors and headed towards the top floors. The three thugs that were holding onto Haruka however didn't relinquish their hold on her. As soon as the twenty were gone the man with the radio turned his attention back to Haruka. "Ok, now carve him open"
Haruka's fear quickly returned as she watched the man with the knife walk up to her. Haruka began to struggle desperately to try and break free.
"HOLD STILL YOU LITTLE PUNK!" the thug with the knife yelled as he grabbed at Haruka to hold her down. The two thugs holding her hands down grabbed at her shoulders to steady her. The man with the knife managed to sit on top of her to hold her upper body down as he prepped his knife.
"Rick" Michiru whispered. "Do something?"
"I can't" Rick answered. "There's still too many to get out of this without getting any other students killed." Rick counted roughly 14 men, and from his current position even if near the edge of the crowd of students, he could only get at roughly half of them cleanly before one of the two remaining gunmen could get a shot off, or one of the thugs takes a knife to a student. If Rick had been in a better position he could get them all easily, but he just wasn't in that position.
Then suddenly one of the men holding Haruka spoke. "Hold on man" the thug said as he began to feel around Haruka's shoulder. Haruka's eyes widened with horror realizing what he found. The thug then grabbed at Haruka's collar and ripped it back and got a good look at what he was feeling. "DUDE, THIS GUY'S A GIRL!" the man cried.
"WHAT!" the thug with the knife exclaimed. He looked at the part of Haruka's shoulder that was exposed from the other thug ripping open her collar, he saw Haruka's bra strap. "NO WAY!"
"A girl, really?" the thug with the radio said as he stepped closer.
"Yeah dude" the thug sitting on top of Haruka answered.
"Well, I guess we can have more fun cutting her open then" the man said as he encouraged the thug with the knife to do it.
"OK!" the man cried as he raised his buck knife. Haruka closed her eyes waiting for the death blow.
CRASH!
A dark figure dropped through the ceiling and onto the man with the knife. The thug and the dark figure crashed to the floor but the dark figure rolled off of the thug and into a small circle of armed thugs.
CLICK, CLICK!
The man with the radio and the only other gun wielder there aimed their shotguns at the figure's face. However the figure didn't waste any time as he swung his arms in opposite directions hitting the shotguns, forcing the shotguns to spin out of the gunmen's hands and the handle and triggers of the two shotguns into the figure's hands. The next thing the gunmen realized is the barrels of their own shotguns pointing directly at their faces.
"OH SHI-!"
BANG BANG!
The figure fired the two shotguns blowing off the heads of the gunmen. The students screamed in horror as the resulting mess spread everywhere. The figure then flipped the shotguns grabbing them by the barrels, and flung them at the two furthest thugs, the flung guns flew true and nailed the two furthest thugs square in the head. Then the figure leapt forward punching the two thugs off of Haruka.
Rick finding a chance to take out two of the guards while the majority of them were distracted with the dark figure. Rick leapt forward taking two thugs out by the knees.
Haruka, now being freed, she jumped off of the table and ran towards Michiru and the others, only looking back to see Rick taking out two thugs, and the dark figure taking on the rest. Two thugs leapt at the figure knives drawn, the figure expertly dodged the knives as he dived his way away from those two and into three more thugs knives drawn. The figure grabbed the wrist of the first thug swinging at him and elbowed a second. The third thug was bringing his knife down onto the figure's head. However the figure used the arm he grabbed as a shield forcing the thug to stab the arm of his partner.
"AH!" the thug cried as his arm was stabbed with a large knife.
The Figure quickly punched the thug that stabbed his partner in the chin knocking him out completely. The Second thug he had elbowed earlier quickly tried to stab at the figure only to have the figure, block that and twist the man's arm. Seeing the first two thugs that he dived away from, now charging after him, the figure pulled the thug he was holding onto in front of him, and kicked the man into the charging two thugs. Turning his attention towards the thug who was stabbed, the figure kicked at the man's knee dislocating it, and forcing the thug onto one knee. The figure then kneed the man in the face.
Rick finishing off the first two he attacked, jumped onto the next two who seemed to be backing away from the fight. Rick punched one in the back of the head, and kicked the second in the back of the knees, Rick then elbowed the man who he kicked in the back of the knees in the head. And gave a high kick the first thug's face sending the man flying onto a table.
The dark figure stood behind the final two thugs who were getting up from the thug that the figure kicked on top of them. They turned around only to see a blur as the figure spun around and heel kicked the two in the face. The two then dropped to the ground and stayed down.
Everyone then watched as the figure shook himself clean of the dust and debris on him, then turned to face Rick.
"Hey Rick" Atsuka sighed.
"So you did get involved bro" Rick sighed back.
"ATSUKA-SENSEI!" Makoto cried in shock.
"Hey nuisance" Atsuka replied at Makoto "Anyway, Rick I need your help to take out the rest of these idiots"
"Got it bro" Rick nodded happily.
"But Garluk is mine" Atsuka said.
"No prob, I'll take out the front guards" Rick said.
"Alright, let's go" Atsuka said as the two then rushed off into the school.
"Uh, What just happened?" Michiru asked out loud.
"I think we just got saved by a teacher" Rei answered.
"Well, looks like we all owe Atsuka-sensei big" Minako said as she held one of the tickets to Haruka who only quietly took the ticket, holding her collar together.
Meanwhile outside
Chief Sakurai was pacing in front of the school with Riot police armed to the teeth, waiting for Atsuka's return.
BAM!
Everyone looked up to see three thugs being kicked through the front doors, and Rick walking outside ushering the police to come inside. Without argument the police rushed the school following Rick into the school.
Meanwhile on the fourth floor
Garluk was on the run, he only realized what happened when twenty of his men rushed the top floor armed saying that someone had attacked them. After searching they found the dead body of one of their companions, his neck was broken. The twenty men had then rushed down to the lower levels only for Garluk to hear screams and gruesome sounds as all twenty of his men were attacked. Garluk stood silently ten feet away from the stairway entrance heart pounding fast.
Dok, dok, dok, dok, dok,
Garluk heard footsteps make their way up the stairs as a rather errie song was being sung by the figure walking up the stairs.
"Hush little Gar-luk don't say a word, Shadow's gonna send you to the Abys-sal World, And if your Mas-ter tries to moan, Shadow's gonna turn his body into stone" Garluk only stood fast horrified at who he was staring at.
"You" Garluk said. "Shadow, rumor was you were dead."
"Good to see you as well Garluk, too bad you decided to make it happen like this. And as you can see, I am very much alive. What did you expect anyway, I'm one of the 'Eight' you think I would simply disappear without anyone knowing for certain." Atsuka smiled as he faced down Garluk. "You broke a fundamental rule Garluk" Atsuka said his face quickly turning serious. Garluk only gulped. "You were not to set foot into the territory claimed by another, especially a territory claimed by one of the 'Eight', which is one of the "Circle's" fundamental rules" Shadow said. "And now you're gonna have to pay the price" Atsuka said smiling.
"Please no" Garluk begged.
"Too late Garluk, the rule demands punishment" Atsuka said as he rushed at Garluk.
"NNOOOO!" was Garluk's final cry before the whole school went silent.
Outside after the incident
A news reporter was speaking outside at how the police managed to successfully rescue all the students without a single injured, and a handful of the people who attacked the school were killed. All the students were taken outside where an army of police and volunteers where waiting to help the traumatized students.
Parents eagerly awaited their children as they were finally given a clean bill of health from the paramedics. Usagi's mom however couldn't have enough just to know that Usagi is ok, she had to find the one who 'freed, her precious daughter', but since she wasn't likely to find the real person, she just walked up to a random officer, who happened to be the same officer that delivered Atsuka the note.
"Officer" Usagi's mom said.
"Yes Ma'am" the officer responded.
"I want to thank-you and all the officers for delivering my daughter back safely" Usagi's mother said as she bowed to the police man.
"Oh, no ma'am, I'm not the one you should thank" the officer said.
"Oh, then who should I thank?" Usagi's mom asked.
Just at that moment, Atsuka walked out of the school looking rather bored as the fun was all over now.
"That's the man you should be thanking" the officer said.
"Him?" Usagi's mom asked. "He doesn't look like a police officer"
"He's our combat instructor, he agreed to help cause he also teaches your daughters" the officer said.
"HE WHAT!" Usagi's mom cried.
"They didn't tell you?" the officer asked.
"No" Usagi's mom exclaimed. "WHY IS HE TEACHING HER!"
"He also teaches your daughter's friends" the officer said desperately to ease his way out of this situation, whether it was by making the shock less personally significant to the woman, or by passing blame onto Atsuka it didn't matter, Atsuka was going to torture him later anyway.
"AND WHY IS THAT!" Usagi's mom cried.
"MOM!" Usagi cried realizing that this was going too far. "We asked him to"
"What!" Usagi's mom answered more surprised and confused than angry.
"We all asked him to" Minako added as she walked up.
"Really!" Usagi's mom said.
"What's going on here?" Atsuka asked not understanding what was going on.
Usagi's mom just stared at him for a moment then bowed at him. "I was told you're the reason our children came out alive." Usagi's mom said.
"What!" Atsuka cried as he turned to the officer who passed him the note earlier. "THIS IS YOUR DOING ISN'T IT!" Atsuka cried.
"IT'S NOT A LIE SENSEI!" the officer cried obviously scared witless from Atsuka's increased rage. "YOU'RE THE COMBAT INSTRUCTOR, AND YOU DID SPEAR HEAD THE RESCUE EFFORT!"
"You will die" Atsuka growled, angry that he was getting thanks, especially when he hated attention, and this was attention he hated the most.
Suddenly the officer got an idea to hopefully get himself out of the death sentence. "SENSEI, CHIEF SAKURAI ALSO LIED TO YOU ABOUT THE DEAL RICK MADE FOR THE TICKETS!".
"He what!" Atsuka answered shocked.
"Sensei, Rick just borrowed a lot of money from Chief Sakurai, and Chief Sakurai then made up a story for you to just participate" the officer explained.
"WHERE DID YOU HEAR THIS!" Atsuka asked.
"From Chief Sakurai's second in command" the officer said.
"YOU TRAITOR!" everyone heard someone cry, they turned to see Chief Sakurai hiding behind a police van listening on the whole conversation.
"CHIEF SAKURAI!" Atsuka cried.
"Running now" Chief Sakurai said as he turned and ran.
"DEATH PENALTY!" Atsuka cried as he chased after Chief Sakurai.
"Uh, will he make it in time for the concert?" Minako wondered outloud.
"Oh he will" Rick said. "Chief Sakurai probably won't though"
Everyone laughed at this as Atsuka continued to chase Chief Sakurai screaming on about the many different ways he was going to torture him and kill him for that stunt, and Chief Sakurai could only reply about how much it was worth it to see Atsuka's expression, and the money he paid for Rick's tickets.
Later on
The concert went off without a hitch, and Chief Sakurai didn't make it as he was ordered by doctors to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time to observe his recovery. Chief Sakurai still thought the whole thing was worthwhile. All the girls along with Mamoru made it to the concert, and while the stadium and area they were playing at, wasn't anything grand like you'd see at a Miley Cyrus concert, all the girls and Mamoru thought it was great.
One week later
Sailor Moon, Mini Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Tuxedo Mask were all at the park nearing 8pm and Solar, and Ray were nowhere to be seen.
"What's taking them so long?" Sailor Mars asked out loud.
"It's not yet 8pm, Sailor Mars, just be patient" Sailor Mercury said.
"How will we recognize them?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"They dress in pure white suits" Sailor Mercury answered.
"Is that all that defines them?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"Pretty much now that I think about it" Sailor Venus added.
"Are they strong?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Yeah they are, but compared to the five we fought that night two weeks ago, they were only strong enough to hold their ground for a short period of time" Sailor Mercury said.
"You didn't tell us much about the five you fought, what were they like?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"It's probably better that Solar and Ray explain it to you, they're much more familiar with what the enemy is more than we are" Sailor Mercury answered.
"Speaking of which what's keeping them?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Sorry about that" a voice called from the trees behind them.
They all quickly turned around to see Solar and Ray dressed in their pure white suits walking out from behind a thick tree line, and making their way towards them.
"So you're Solar and Ray" Sailor Uranus said as she walked up to them.
"That we are, and who might you girls, and guy be, we didn't see you last time" Solar answered.
"I am Sailor Neptune"
"I am Sailor Uranus"
"I am Sailor Saturn"
"And I am Tuxedo Mask"
Ray quickly stifled a snigger at hearing Tuxedo Mask's name, as strange or stupid as it sounded to another person he didn't want to go insulting anyone.
"There is another one called Sailor Pluto, but she couldn't make it today" Sailor Neptune added.
"That's a shame" Solar replied. "But no matter, anyway you all ready to go to the Tower?"
"Yup" everyone answered at the same time.
"Alright everyone stand close together" Solar instructed, as everyone huddled close together, Solar stood on one end of the group while Ray stood on the other. Each one of them measured two steps backwards and clapped their hands together.
ZWOM!
A circle of light encircled the group along with Ray and Solar, everyone watched the light take its shape while Ray and Solar kept their concentration. Little lines of light began to intersect and stretch throughout the circle until a complex seal was formed.
"HEAVEN'S GATE!" Both Ray and Solar cried as the seal began to brighten, insomuch that it forced everyone to close their eyes due to the intensity of the light. And they waited they felt a sensation similar to that of being lifted off the ground.
ZWOM!
As the Feeling of being lifted disappeared, everyone opened their eyes to see that they were no longer in the park. They were now in the middle of a large room. The room itself was completely white, though the light was dim enough not to hurt the eyes, the walls and floor were a polished white stone. And surrounding them were several people dressed in monk robes, again also white. They were surrounding them in a perfect circle as if they were anticipating their arrival.
"What's this?" Sailor Moon asked out loud.
"Transportation a success" Solar sighed as he broke concentration.
All the monks surrounding them silently bowed, turned, and then left.
"Who were they?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"They're Tower Mages" Ray answered. "They are strong in magic usage, and thus participate in tasks that require a lot of magic concentration such as transportation, like we have just done"
"Where are we?" Sailor Mars asked.
"Where in a transportation room on the fifth floor of the tower" Solar answered. "We'll take you to the lounge if you want?"
"That would be nice" Sailor Venus said as she and the others followed Solar, and Ray.
Solar and Ray led everyone down four flights of stairs and into a large lounge. What everyone noticed first was that everything and everyone was white. The walls were made of white stone or marble, and all the people they saw, possibly numbering in the hundreds were all wearing pure white. All the people seemed nice as people waved at them and smiled, which at least created a warm atmosphere.
Ray and Solar got everyone settled in the lounge and began answering questions.
"Does anyone have any questions?" Solar asked.
"I do" Sailor Mini Moon raised her hand.
"Yes?" Solar acknowledged.
"Why is everything in white?" she asked.
"That's a long standing tradition of ours" Solar began. "It's an old belief that what we represent is purity so being dressed in white and working and living in a pure white atmosphere represents who we are"
"Don't you guys ever get tired of the color?" Sailor Venus asked.
"Yes we do" Ray answered. "But it's the Lord Light's orders, and tradition also dictates the reason for his order of keeping everything white"
"I have a more serious question" Sailor Uranus jumped in.
"Go on" Solar answered.
"As I'm sure you know some of us weren't there on the night when you all fought the five multicolored enemies, could you perhaps explain who it was you were fighting?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Certainly" Solar answered. Solar quickly went over again about the "Seven Rings of Power" and how they related to them, and the ones they fought. "The ones we fought were controllers of different elements. One controlled fire, another water, another lightening, and another controlled Ice."
"But you guys fought five, what's with the last one?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"The last one is of a different ring" Ray answered. "He's similar to Solar and me, he uses light just like us"
"So then why isn't he on our side?" Sailor Neptune asked.
"After the Millennia war, many people broke off to do what they saw fit, not that there weren't people who used light that didn't join the Light Justice Society, but there were a lot more that broke off to form their own groups or just live a normal life, my best guess is he's one of them" Solar explained.
"What rings did you say influenced us?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"Celestial, Magic, and Elemental" Solar answered. "Though elemental might be selective between some of you as I recognize a few of you don't have an elemental influence" Solar added nodding towards Sailor Moon and Mini Moon.
"What ring does, Light fall under?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Essence, why?" Ray asked.
"Would it be true that there are dark users then too?" Sailor Uranus asked.
Solar and Ray forgot to mention about Shadow Users and what part they played in the millennia war.
"Yes, and I forgot to mention that during the millennia war it was the Light Justice Society vs. the Dark Army" Solar quickly corrected himself.
"I assume that the Light Justice Society won that war then?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"No, actually we lost that war" Solar answered.
"WHAT!" Sailor Uranus was shocked and so was Sailor Neptune and Saturn.
"Don't worry it doesn't mean anything" Solar explained, only to have Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Saturn look at him quizzically. "Shortly after they killed our previous Lord Light, the Dark General disbanded the Dark Army, and all its members disappeared."
"Disbanded?" Sailor Neptune sounded confused.
"Yeah, as in got rid of the organization" Ray replied rather annoyed.
"I know that, I just don't understand why after winning, he would just throw it away, doesn't sound like a warrior for the forces of darkness to me" Sailor Neptune explained.
"Aw, right" Solar remembered how the others reacted to the fact that these Shadow Users aren't inherently evil. "You're under the assumption that Shadow Users are inherently evil correct?"
"Yes, is that wrong?" Sailor Uranus asked.
"Yes, and no" Ray answered earning a more confused look from the three girls. "Despite having such a power, these guys aren't demons, or influenced by demons, they are just regular people who have special powers basically that were passed down to them from generation to generation. A Shadow User is just as capable of good as we are" Ray explained.
"I'm sorry, I'm not wrapping my head around this very well" Sailor Neptune said rubbing her temples.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually" Solar said.
"Um?" Sailor Saturn stuttered as she raised her hand.
"Yes" Ray nodded towards her.
"I was told that there may be other kids here, are there?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"Not in this tower no" Solar answered. Sailor Saturn looked sad upon hearing this. "But however sometimes there might be a messenger who brings their kids along, if you want to ask the desk clerk downstairs you can find out" Solar added not wanting to see Sailor Saturn sad.
"Can I?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"Yup, just head downstairs the admin desk will be right there" Solar explained.
"Mini Moon you want to go with her?" Sailor Moon asked.
"In a little bit, I just want to hear more about what were up against" Mini Moon answered. "I'll catch up later Saturn"
"Ok" Sailor Saturn nodded and left.
"Any other questions?" Ray asked.
"Have you ever met the Dark General?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"Nope, but I heard he was near unstoppable" Solar answered.
With Sailor Saturn
Sailor Saturn followed Solar's directions as she went down a long flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she saw a large desk with two people sitting at it, guessing that it was the Administration Desk that Solar talked about she went up and asked if there were any other kids in the tower.
"Yes, as a matter of fact there are a couple staying the night" A older woman answered. She pointed at a door in the wall next to the desk. "That door will take you down a couple of floors where the guest apartments are, make sure you take two rights, a left, a right again, and you will find yourself at the guest apartments"
"Thank-you" Sailor Saturn thanked the woman and went through the door way and down the stairs.
At the Lounge
"Where is this Tower located exactly?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"In an unused area in the Pacific Ocean, and just off the cost so no one runs into it by accident" Ray answered. "It is just above a rather chaotic spot as the water currents below constantly change direction, you could be swept deep into the pacific, swept into a river leading into Tokyo, or you could end up all the way to China or Korea depending on the currents" Ray explained.
Back to Sailor Saturn
Sailor Saturn was feeling lost, she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, as this place didn't look like an apartment area, let alone an area guest's stay, it looked more like the restricted area where engineers and janitors work. Sailor Saturn tried to turn around, but every hall looked the same as all the walls where white, and everything was set in symmetry with the next hall.
Back to the Lounge
"Have you guys been attacked before" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"A couple of times in the past, but usually just by rouges or some idiots who don't know what they picked a fight with" Ray answered.
"So this place is secure?" Sailor Uranus asked
"Oh yeah" Solar answered. "There are roughly a couple hundred people who work here, it would take a small army to properly attack and take this place."
"I'm going to go find Saturn now" Mini Moon said as she gave a polite bow and left the room.
Back to Sailor Saturn
Sailor Saturn now felt convinced that she was lost, she didn't know where in the heck she was and she couldn't find anyone to help her find her way back. She felt like crying until, she heard voices. She followed the voices until she found herself in a large generator room. Hearing the voices coming from deeper in the room she ventured deeper.
"Glare how are you?" Sailor Saturn heard one voice say.
"Not bad Photon, how have you been?" the one called Glare answered.
"I'm fine, though I'm eager to hear that this Duplication machine works" the one called Photon replied.
'Duplication Machine?" Sailor Saturn thought as she got closer.
"Yes, it works great" Glare answered. Sailor Saturn couldn't see them, but could tell that she was getting closer.
"How long until all preparations are ready?" Photon asked.
"Six months give or take" Glare answered.
"Not bad time" Photon answered.
Sailor Saturn found herself facing the last corner before she would find the two men. She rounded the corner when she heard.
"Soon Japan will be ours and the Light Justice Society will soon take the world" Glare said in a satisfied sigh.
Sailor Saturn stood frozen staring at the two men who were staring at a large machine which she couldn't even comprehend what it did or how it worked.
"How much resistance do you think we'll encounter?" Glare asked.
"The Japanese Self Defense Forces are small, and will be weak in comparison to the army we'll have in six months, taking Japan will be easy" Photon answered.
Sailor Saturn felt her backing up until.
CLANG!
"WHAT'S THAT!" Photon and Glare spun around to see a horrified Sailor Saturn standing behind them.
"Well, that not good, not good at all" Glare said.
"For you little girl" Photon added.
Sailor Saturn didn't say anything as she did the only instinctive thing she could think of, she spun around and ran as fast as she could.
"HEY COME BACK HERE!" Glare cried chasing after Sailor Saturn with Photon not far behind.
Sailor Saturn somehow found her way out of the generator room and dashed down the hall as fast as she could, she could hear Glare and Photon not far behind.
"STOP!" Photon yelled. Saturn didn't know whether to laugh at that ridiculous remark asking her to stop, or to stay horrified and keep running. Of course she instinctively opted for the latter.
Soon Sailor Saturn felt herself wearing down, immediately remembering how fragile she was, her lungs where burning, but it didn't stop her from running as far as she could. Ahead she saw and open door, and no other pathways, Sailor Saturn rushed through the door and made a mad dash for the first path she could find, however as she was about to turn someone else came around the corner, and Sailor Saturn ran face first into the person.
BAM!
"Hey!" a man said as he looked down on Sailor Saturn who fell to the floor. "Hey you ok?" the man asked.
Sailor Saturn wasn't sure if she trusted the man, but when Glare and Photon burst through the door she got up and tried to run past the man only to have the man stop her.
"Hey you can't go back there, that's a restricted section" the man said.
"LET ME GO!" Saturn cried desperate.
"Hey, what's wrong?" the man asked. Suddenly a bright light began to emit from where Glare and Photon where standing. The man looked at the two and recognized what they were doing and looked horrified. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!" the man cried.
"FINAL FLASH!" Glare cried as a jet of intense light shot forward towards the two. The man reacting as fast as light pulled Sailor Saturn into a protective hug and shielded her from the attack. Sailor Saturn felt the attack engulf the two of them. An intense heat began to quickly build burning Saturn's skin and uniform, however she didn't comprehend what happened next as she fell unconscious.
The blast engulfed the two and hit the wall behind next to them, the man shielding Saturn was pushed with the intensity of the blast and threw the two of them through the wall and outside towards the Ocean.
Glare and Photon ran forward towards the hole made by Glare's attack. Glare and Photon watched as the man and Sailor Saturn hit the ocean and disappeared.
BLARR! BLARR!
The attack alarm screeched alerting the entire tower to the destruction. Quickly Photon and Glare began charging up shots and fired blindly into the Pacific Ocean.
ZAPP! BLOOM! ZAPP! BLOOM!
Attack after attack hit the water creating steam and explosions of water everywhere before the first set of back up showed up.
"What's going on here!" Solar asked seeing Glare and Photon staring out into the sea.
"Another rogue raid!" Glare answered.
"Where are they!" Ray asked peering out at the sea.
"I don't know they took off when we started returning fire!" Glare answered.
"Two people fell in after the explosion!" Photon added.
"Who!" Solar asked.
"One of the Engineers, and some girl dressed in some kind of sailor fuku I didn't see before!" Photon answered.
"WHAT!" Ray cried in astonishment.
"Did you know her!" Glare asked.
"YES SHE'S A GUEST HERE!" Ray answered.
"WHAT WAS SHE DOING DOWN HERE!" Solar asked. "GUEST ROOMS ARE ON THE OTHERSIDE OF THE TOWER!"
"I don't know I think she got lost!" Photon answered.
"DO YOU SEE THEM!" Ray asked getting desperate.
"No, I didn't see where they fell!" Photon lied.
Solar quickly thought of a quickly plan. "RAY! YOU TRY TO FIND THEM, I'll GO GET HELP!"
"GOT IT!" Ray said. "ONE OF YOU TWO GONNA HELP ME!"
"I'll help!" Photon answered. "Glare will stay here to watch out for the rogues!"
"GOOD IDEA!" Ray answered as he dived towards the sea below. Ray quickly concentrated and then two wings made of light erected from his back. Diving into the water Ray used the wings to propel himself through the water, and when he needed air, he would jump out of the water fly to a different spot, and dive in again.
Solar returned shortly with several other Light Users, and the Sailor Scouts shocked to hear what happened to Sailor Saturn, and desperate to help. Several light users, and few hours later, it got too late to keep looking. They couldn't find either the Engineer's body, or Saturn's.
Solar and Ray where the last to fly up to the hole in the wall made from the explosion, where the Sailor Scouts where waiting.
"DID YOU FIND HER!" Sailor Neptune asked, praying to hear good news.
Solar and Ray sadly shook their heads, Ray couldn't bring himself to look the scouts in the eyes, and Solar didn't like what happened any more than the others.
Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Mini Moon broke down in tears, while the rest looked solemn and sad.
"I'm sorry!" Solar said, in fact that's all he could say.
"Y-you did y-your best" Sailor Moon replied. Though she knew that wouldn't be enough to comfort Uranus, Neptune and Mini Moon, she knew in the back of her mind, there was nothing more they could do.
"We'll continue the search in the morning, until then, there's nothing left we can do tonight" Solar answered.
"YOU BASTARD!" Sailor Uranus cried as she grabbed Solar by the collar of his suit. "YOU SAID THIS PLACE WAS SAFE!"
"I didn't think this would happen" Solar tried to reason with Uranus. "Attacks are extremely rare, and I didn't think about your friend getting lost" Solar explained honestly. Uranus couldn't think of a counter argument, she could only let go of Solar's suit and drop to her knees crying.
The following morning
Hyouko was taking his usual morning stroll, it was the weekend, and everyone was sleeping in so no one was around and the sun was barely up. He walked next to a small man made river where the tide from the Pacific Ocean last night carried in a lot of junk. Hyouko continued his walk just observing different pieces of trash as he went along. Suddenly Hyouko saw something rather different, it certainly didn't look like a piece of trash. Carefully inching his way down the concrete inclines to get a closer look.
"A body?" Hyouko said out loud as he looked at the body, from what he could tell, it seemed to belong to a full grown man, who seemed to have his back blown away. "Must have been an explosion" Hyouko reasoned as the injury wasn't raw, it was all burnt flesh telling Hyouko whatever hit this man must have been some intense heat.
Hyouko saw the man's pocket facing towards him, and Hyouko tried to see if he could get the man's wallet to see if he had any identification on him. But as soon as Hyouko touched the man, the man's body fell back into the low tide of the river and continued to drift down stream.
"Brilliant" Hyouko sighed, annoyed that he now has to get the police to perform a full search to get the body back, assuming they can find it still in one piece, high tides come in all the time and aren't gentle all the time either.
Hyouko got up to leave when something else on the other side caught his eye. On the other side he saw a second body. But what really caught his attention was what the body was wearing.
"That uniform" Hyouko said to himself. "It's one of those girl's" Hyouko said to himself quickly recognizing the outfit. Hyouko quickly looked at the river, and looked around for a bridge. Finding no bridge Hyouko then placed his hand on the top of the river. "ICE PATH" Hyouko muttered as a strip of the river was suddenly frozen creating a straight path for Hyouko to cross the river. Quickly crossing the river, Hyouko walked up to the second body. Not wanting to lose this body like he did the first, Hyouko grabbed the girl's arm and hoisted her higher onto the concrete incline outlining the river. Once out far enough, Hyouko carefully let himself down further to examine the body without falling in. Hyouko checking the girl out, he found several small burns on her face, arms, and legs, several parts of her uniform were burnt too, but that didn't mean much to Hyouko. Hyouko then took two fingers and pressed them against the girl's neck against the jugular. Hyouko's eyes widened considerably when he felt a faint pulse. Hyouko quickly wrapped his arms underneath Saturn's armpits and waddled his way to the top of the bank. After laying her down on the ground, Hyouko quickly grabbed his cell phone and punched in a few numbers.
RING! RING!
"Hi Hyouko, do you know what time it is?" Rick answered on the other side of the phone.
"Shut up" Hyouko answered.
"Well that's one way to say hello" Rick responded irritably. "What do you want, its 6:30 in the morning"
"I found a body" Hyouko said.
"What?" Rick replied surprised.
"It's one of them" Hyouko said.
"What do you mean, who's them?" Rick asked.
"One of those idiot girl's we met a few weeks ago" Hyouko answered.
"Oh, you didn't kill her did you?" Rick asked.
"No, she's alive" Hyouko answered.
"Ok, yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can, I'll bring Kai as well" Rick said then hanging up the phone.
Hyouko quietly hung up his phone and then squatted next to Saturn's unconscious form. "And what trouble did you get into?" Hyouko asked not anticipating an answer.
Author's notes: well that's chapter 4 hope you guys like it, so anyway, please read, and review. PLEASE REVIEW.