9
Is he an Ally?
"Soooo..how cute was he, Makoto? On the hotness scale, are we talking a ten or an eight?" asked Minako as she adjusted her surgical mask.
The Auburn hair young lady pursed her lips as she watched Minako and Usagi sit on a bench under a tree with their lunches in their hands. Minako had missed the youma attack that happened yesterday due to sickness so her two companions had to bring her up to speed. Her sickness was the main reason for her wearing the surgical mask.
"Your missing the point. The guy dodged every single attack that Youma threw at him! It was as if he knew the attack was coming! Plus he did a little damage to it as well." she said as she went to sit down next to them.
Minako's smile melted into a concerned frown.
"So, he's that fast and strong, huh? Did you see where he went?"
"No, he jumped out the window and disappeared. Ami and I didn't see a body down below, so we assumed he ran off." said Makoto.
"That is a fair assumption, but who is this guy? Where did he come from? And more importantly what is his goal? There are too many question marks on this Hiroshi Sato for my taste."
"I don't think he's an enemy..." mumbled Usagi as she ate the rice-balls in her bento.
Both of her friends shot her a concerned glance before Minako spoke.
"I think you're being a little too trusting, Usagi-chan. Hiroshi could be trying to get close to us to steal the Silver Crystal."
The young blonde haired girl shook her head.
"I don't think so..."
Makoto folded her arms across her chest.
"Oh, really? What make you say that? You haven't even met the man."
Usagi's face beamed a little.
"We may not have met but I have a strong feeling that he's not an enemy."
Minako giggled a little.
"Strong feeling, huh? I don't know if I trust your feeling's. Last time we trusted your feeling we got ambushed by youma."
Usagi pouted a little.
"Minako-chan! That was one time! Besides I was right about Seiya and the Starlights!"
"One out of ten is pretty bad odds, Usagi-chan." retorted Minako.
"My feelings are right more then one out of ten! I was right about Mamoru, and I was right about us when you guys lost your memories, and don't forget Sailor Uranus and Neptune! Oh and I was right about-"
"Alright, Alright. You win, your feelings are right a good deal of the time." said Minako as she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.
"Whether your feeling is right or wrong is not really the issue. We still have to talk about Hiroshi and what we are going to do about him at the meeting." said Makoto.
Minako nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I bet Haruka and Michiru will agree with us.."
Usagi's smile faded a little.
"Oh...they're going to be at the meeting?"
Both girls shot the princess a surprised glance. Neither of them had expected such a response, it was very uncharacteristic of her. Minako placed her hand lightly on Usagi's shoulder.
"Yeah, Ami and I invited them. Is that a problem?"
Usagi stared at her food for a couple of seconds before her beaming smile returned.
"Nope, no problem."
Both girls glanced at each other. They knew something was undeniably wrong, Usagi was a lot of things but subtle was not one of them. Especially with her own feelings. A look of concern came on Makoto's face as she moved to gently probe Usagi for what was wrong.
"Usagi, are your sure about that? If you want I can tell those two the meeting was cancel-"
"No! No, I'm fine." said Usagi.
"Are you really, really sure?" probed Minako.
Usagi's smile widened.
"I'm fine! Really guys, it's just been a while since I've seen them and it's a little weird to have them at a meeting. Those two usually don't come to our meetings, being lone wolfs and all."
"Are you sure that's the only reason?" asked Makoto.
Usagi nodded.
"Yeah! I can't wait to see them."
Minako and Makoto shot each other concerned looks for a couple of seconds before they decided to leave this topic alone for the moment. They knew from years of experience that Usagi would tell them later, when she felt up to it. Minako quickly changed the subject to boys, which brought a real smile on both Makoto's and Usagi's faces. The three ate and chatted the away until their Lunch period was over.
"You can't be serious...THIS is your amazing plan? This will never work!" complained Peridot as he stared at the large half-painted ice cream truck on the theater's main stage.
Topaz stopped spray painting the motorized vehicle and shot his cousin a death glare. Peridot was sitting in the front row in a nice black suit, slacks and shoes. The Police had confiscated his armor and weapons when he revealed he could not produce a permit for either. Thankfully Quan Xin had provided him with new clothes after he managed to get the police to release him.
"Excuse me! I think my plan is ingenious! What child doesn't like ice cream?!" snapped Topaz as he rubbed white paint off his hands onto his blue overalls.
Peridot pursed his lips.
"Lactose intolerant children for one.."
"Oh, come the fuck on?! You're just pissed you didn't think of it first!" snapped Topaz.
"I'm not pissed about your damn idea, I'm more upset that you tried to murder a child!"
Topaz gritted his teeth in anger.
"HEY! I said was sorry for that!"
"You were going to set him on FIRE! You can't sorry that away!"
A sigh of frustration escaped Topaz's lips as he went back to spraying white paint on the ice cream truck.
"Well if you have a better idea, why don't you share with the class?"
Peridot leaned back into his chair and shook his head.
"Just because I can't come up with a better idea doesn't mean your idea is good.."
Topaz snorted.
"..You don't have any vision, Cousin. If you did, you would be the King of Saturn by now."
Peridot rolled his eyes.
"Oh..noooo..I'm not King of a long since dead kingdom..whatever shall I do?" he said with a large amount sarcasm in his voice.
Topaz's nostrils flared a little but he didn't say anything more. He instead decided to focus his attention on the task at hand. Peridot sat there waiting for a response from his cousin for a few minutes before he turned to look at Quan Xin, who was sitting in the chair two rows above him, drinking tea.
"Come on, Master Quan. You have to admit this idea is a little over done..I mean this some comic book villain shit."
Quan Xin chuckled a little.
"Your not wrong...this idea is a little farfetched, but it does have some potential."
The Monk stood up from his seat and walked toward the stage.
"Especially with my edits.."
Topaz grumbled a little.
"Edits...edits he says..took over the whole damn operation..says I.."
Quan Xin ignored him and hopped onto the stage.
"You see, the ice cream Topaz is going to give children is no ordinary ice cream. I've sprinkled a little bit of harmless powder that will change the color of the food depending on the amount of Ki the eater has. If the child has normal or below average ki their ice cream will turn blue, if it's higher then average it will turn red. Once we find children with higher then average ki we can test them to see if they are the ones we seek."
Peridot nodded.
"That is a smart idea...In fact it's better then any Topaz could come up with."
"Screw you! I helped come up with that plan! In fact this whole operation is thanks to me!" snapped Topaz.
Quan Xin's eyes turned to gaze at the young prince.
"You really need to learn to be humble. Your origin plan was to use the truck to gather information on children. A useless plan that would have lead to your arrest if I hadn't alter them. You should remember your place, Topaz"
The overall wearing youth's left eye twitched a little as he sunk back and clasped his throat. Pain returned there briefly to remind him of his previous conversation with Quan Xin. Topaz knew better then to ever cross this Buddhist monk.
"I-I will remember my place, Master Quan Xin...and I will strive to be humble.." he muttered.
Quan Xin's smile returned.
"See that you do."
The Monk's eyes went back to Peridot, who's mouth hung open in surprise. The knight of Saturn had never seen anyone knock his cousin down a peg. He didn't know who this Quan Xin was but he already knew he liked him.
"Master Peridot, do you feel more confident about this plan know that you know about it in it's entirety?" asked Quan Xin.
Peridot quickly closed his mouth and nodded.
"A little bit.."
Quan Xin's cocked his left eyebrow.
"A little bit? Why only a little bit? Is there something you don't understand?"
Peridot shook his head.
"No, No. I understand it. I just don't see how it's going to work when the Sailor scouts know what Topaz looks like."
Topaz sneered.
"That will not be an issue!"
Peridot pursed his lips.
"Uhhh...yes, yes that's going to be an issue. They kicked your beast's ass, last time."
Topaz shook his head as he placed his tools down.
"No, It won't. I going to have back up!"
"I'm not helping you. Especially after you handcuffed me to a bench!" snapped Peridot.
Topaz snickered.
"I wasn't talking about you. I'm referring to someone useful!"
"Oh, and who are you referring to then. I don't think Quan Xin can oversee and help you at the same time." said Peridot.
Topaz laughed as he sprinted backstage. The overall wearing prince returned after a few minutes dragging a very large cage. An enormous black blanket lay over it covering it's occupant from sight. Sounds of movement came from inside and for a moment Peridot could swear he could hear a bird-like coo echo from inside. Quan Xin stared at the cage with relative interest before he spoke.
"My, My whatever is inside?"
Topaz's grin widened.
"A beast of mythical legend...and the last of it's kind!"
Peridot rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. You said the same thing when you caught Zaebos, and I swear I've seen plenty of his kind all over in the Cancer quadrant."
"This is different, the beast in this cage really is the last of it's kind! It's such a legendary beast that many humans think it's very existence is a myth!" snapped Topaz.
"Really?! What's mythical creature resides in that cage?!" asked Quan Xin with excitement.
Topaz grinned.
"A Griffin!"
Peridot snorted.
"Bullshit!"
Topaz shook his head.
"It's true, I have in my possession the mighty Griffin!"
The prince placed a hand on the sheet covering the cage.
"Behold, with your own eyes. The griffin in all it's majesty!"
With one forceful tug from Topaz the sheet came off. Quan Xin's excitement quickly disappeared once the cage was exposed. A griffin was inside the cage, but it was extremely malnourished to the point that it was nothing but skin and bones. It was a wonder it was alive in it's current condition. The feathers on it's head was mostly gone and the fur on it's body was beginning to fall off. The poor griffin was laying down inside it's cage too weak to even roar when it noticed the sheet had been removed all it could do was coo. Peridot stared at the beast for a few minutes before he shot his cousin an glare.
"What the fuck?! What have you done to this poor thing?!" he snapped.
"Well, nothing...I just-" started Topaz.
Peridot jumped out of his chair and immediately got into his cousin's face.
"Just what?! Forgot to feed it?! The hell is the matter with you?!"
Topaz back away from his cousin.
"Nothing's wrong with me?! I have a lot of pets to take care of! I had to cut back food a little so that Zaebos could grow strong."
Peridot went to slap him but Quan Xin caught his hand before he could. A disappointing sigh escaped the monk's lips as he brought his gaze over to the two men.
"What's done is done. As disappointing as your cousin's decisions are we still need this beast for the plan.."
"The plan?! The how the hell is this thing going to be useful?! It looks like a slight breeze could kill this poor creature!" snapped Peridot as he pulled his hand out of Quan Xin's grip.
The Monk nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I better do something about that..."
Quan Xin pulled a small bag out of his pocket and removed a small, single green bean from inside. Peridot shook his head in disapproval as he watched the monk place the bean into the Griffin's mouth.
"The hell is a single bean going to do?! The poor beast needs more then that if it's going to live?"
The griffin weakly swallowed the bean and it's eyes immediately widened after. The creature's muscles pulsed a little bit and grew bigger. It's feathers and hair grew back instantaneously and the once weak creature suddenly had enough energy to roar loud enough to make the room shake. The two princes of Saturn jumped away from the cage in shock.
"W-What the hell?!" exclaimed Peridot.
"It's all better? The hell was in that bean?" yelped Topaz.
Quan Xin chuckled as he placed the bag back into his pocket.
"That was a senzu bean. One bean can rejuvenate a man's energy and heal in an instant. The Black Tortoise School learned how to make these only a few years ago. It's too bad the old master that used to grow these tried to get in our way. His knowledge of the bean could have helped our researchers. Oh well, The beast should be back to it's peak form...plus a little extra." said the Monk as he gently rubbed the Griffin's head.
The beast cooed happily as the monk's hand scratched under it's beak. Peridot looked nervously from the beast to Quan Xin. He didn't know who this monk was but he felt the same kind of energy gushing out of him as Master Sasori. Distrust started to rear it's ugly head as the prince continued to gaze at the monk. Quan Xin turned his attention back to the two princes and smiled.
"Topaz I believe you have a lot of work left to do on the truck. I want this plan ready to go by the time the children leave school. Once that's done we'll discuss how we're going to transport the Griffin."
Topaz gulped and nodded.
"A-As you wish.."
The purple knight sprinted back to the truck and immediately went back to work. Quan Xin's gaze fell on Peridot.
"As for you, I have another plan I want you to implement while Topaz is on his mission."
The green knight stared distrustfully at Quan Xin.
"W-What do you want me to do?" he asked.
The monk smiled and motioned for Peridot to follow him.
"Follow me and you'll see."
Peridot gulped and followed behind the monk as he lead him towards the door leading out of the theater. Quan Xin opened the door and lead his companion out of the room. Leaving Topaz alone with his pet. The Griffin roared irritably after the monk left, causing Topaz to tell it to 'shut up'. The prince had a lot of work to do and he didn't need any distractions.
Author's note: Sorry for not posting for months, guys/gals/or whatever you wished to be called. My work plus depression has prevented me from writing. Thankfully I've gotten to the point where I want to write again and I should be posting once a week...hopefully. I hope you liked this chapter, please review if you wish to. Feedback is welcome.