The next morning, I arrived at the meeting location, cloaked and invisible, far earlier than anyone else had, finding a good perch, I sat and waited as the sun rose on the horizon. My visor's scans revealed the presence of several other cloaked figures, though they hadn't seemed to notice me yet. If they had, they weren't paying me any attention. And finally, the black van appeared and out stepped Glitch, three of his men, and a bound and gagged Rei Hino.
"Oh oh oh oh... are we gonna play hide and seek again, Ares?" Glitch asked hopping up and down. Rei looked around as though she were frightened of something. "Tardiness is very unbecoming of a Commanding Officer, you know, or are you going for the... 'stylishly late'... feel?" He produced a pistol and held it to her head, causing her to close her eyes. "Make me wait any longer and I'mma paint this town red, tee hee hee..."
"That's enough, Glitch." My voice boomed across the parking lot's P.A. System. He looked around and sighed, nodding and lowering his pistol.
"Clever clever clever! You're a good one, Ares! Ohhhhh come on, let's fight! I wanna see who's REALLY the best..."
"Release her and drive away, Glitch. And take your cloaked thugs with you or else my first shot will prove it right now." He nodded and tightened his jaw, releasing her bonds and removing the gag before pushing her away from him. Immediately the cloaked figures all fired shots, the gunshots forming a perimeter around Rei.
"Got a better plan, Ares. We fight, and the winner gets to keep her! Deny me, and you may kill me... but she still dies..." Damn, this wasn't going to go well.
"Fine, I'll fight you, but first, you send your thugs away and let her go." I said. "You have my word."
"Ohhhh, very well, I suppose it's best that way, no distractions!" I watched as the cloaked thugs all vanished.
"You're clear, Rei, go home." I said over the loud speakers. I waited until she was well out of the way before standing up and walking towards him, dropping my cloaking field and drawing my sword. "Alright then, Glitch, let's do this."
"How'd you get my name, hmmmmm?" He asked. "Inside source, maybe?"
"Maybe." I replied. "Are we going to fight or chit chat?" I picked up my stance and he drew his pistols.
"Ohhhhh, yeah..." He growled under his breath before rushing at me. He swung the pistols around, using the circular blades as melee weapons and my sword deflected blow after blow before I spun around and slashed downward, opening a gash across his chest that spattered blood on the ground. He cried out and staggered back but after a moment or two, I watched as the wounds healed. "Nanomachines... tee hee hee... you think you're the only one with a pet machine?" He rushed at me again and the exchange repeated, but this time one of his pistols broadsided me in the helmet, knocking me to the side and a second attack put a slash down the back of my armor. My visor flickered with the slash and then powered down. The A.I. Had been shut down, it was now just me inside a suit of armor. I staggered forwards, away from the fight for a moment.
"Ohhhhh, did I take out your targeting systems?" He cackled. I clenched my jaws, how could he have possibly known that? I had to finish this fast now, or else he was going to pick me apart. I spun around, and swung the sword, broadsiding him across the face and sending him flipping away from me. As he was landing, I reactivated the cloaking field and took off. "NO! ARES YOU COME BACK HERE!" Glitch roared as I vanished.
"Jackson, Jackson come in." I said over the communications array.
"What's up, Ares?" Jackson's voice responded.
"My targeting systems are down and visor functionality is compromised, what's the mission status?" I asked, starting to feel the onset of the panic and adrenaline.
"The package is in the clear, Ares, you are advised to disengage." Jackson responded.
"Copy that, where are the others?" I asked, trying to control my breathing.
"The others?" Jackson asked.
"Yes, Jackson, The Senshi, where are they?"
"Oh, um... scanning... it appears that they all overslept, looks like you're on your own, Ares." He replied. "Repeat advise to disengage, break off and head back home."
"ARES! I WILL HUNT HER DOWN! DO YOU HEAR ME ARES?" Glitch roared across the parking lot.
"Negative, Jackson, I'm gonna have to try the cannon."
"Ares, that is ill advised, I repeat that is very ill advised, with targeting systems down how do you intend to use it?"
"Manual aiming, of course. Besides, I think I have a plan." I sighed. "Ares out." I stood up and walked over towards him again extending the cannon and taking aim on him as I dropped the cloaking field. "Game over, Glitch. You lose."
"Ooohhh, experimental equipment? Are you certain that's a good idea, Ares?" He asked grinning. I charged the cannon, the inner barrel began spinning and glowing white hot with the collected energy ready to discharge. Glitch's eyes widened. "No... you wouldn't dare risk the lives of everyone in this building behind me..."
"ARES AFTERBURN CANNON FIRE!" I roared as the cannon went to fire it's shot. It shorted out and electricity crawled over my armor, shutting down my circuits internally and Glitch laughed.
"BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as loudly as possible before running at me. "NOW YOU DIE, YOU ARMORLESS FOOL!" He roared. I gritted my teeth and threw my entire weight into a backswung sword strike, spinning and slashing him across the chest and spattering more blood, but this time he fell to the ground and started crying in pain. "AAAAGH! NO! H-how...?" He asked as I fell to the ground, collapsing under the weight of my own powerless armor.
"Now, neither of us have machine pets, Glitch." I grunted out with a laugh. "But at least I still have a body armor." The electromagnetic shockwave that had exploded from my suit when I'd tried to fire the cannon had shorted out not only my suit, but every last one of his nano-machines as well. After a few more moments Sailor Mars rushed over.
"Ares! Are you alright?" She asked. I grunted a bit, trying to push myself into a standing position and glanced over at Glitch who was trying to stand up as well. I growled and nodded.
"You're a sight for sore eyes..." I growled out. She smiled for a moment until she saw the furious expression on my face. "As for this little guy... GRAAAAHHH!" I poured all of my strength into one last dash as he stood up, shoulder ramming him in the back and listening as the sickening 'CRACK' indicated that my aim had been right on the money. I then collapsed again, breathless, and too weak too even move.
"Can't feel my legs! OH no! My legs! My legs! My legs! Legs legs legs legs..." Glitch began sobbing pounding his fists on the pavement.
"Your hunting days... are over..." I gasped out as I laid there beside him.
"Sailor Mars! Commander Ares!" Sailor Moon and the others finally showed up. "Looks like we missed everything."
"Not everything." I grunted out. "Dust him." Sailor Moon nodded and started to reach her scepter skywards, but stopped upon seeing Glitch sobbing about his legs.
"Wait, Ares, look at him, he's not a threat to us anymore." She said. "He looks as though he could use healing more than a dusting."Just then glitch flipped over and stared at her in shock, like he was terrified of her.
"YOU WILL NOT!" He roared before slapping his belt buckle and fading from view. I growled for a moment but finally managed to lift my heavy arm up to my chest, pressing the insignia.
"Ares, power down." I grunted out. A circle of light passed over my body and in it's wake, my clothes were left and the armor was gone. I took in a few deep breaths and continued laying there for a moment. My clothes were drenched in sweat and my hair was matted down.
"Are you alright, Alex?" Rei, who'd powered down as well, ran over.
"Good now, I need to get that fixed." I sighed, finally sitting up. "How about you? Are you alright?"
"Good now, thank you." She said wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. "So are you ready to go home, Mr. Hero?" She giggled at me.
"Mr. Hero, is it?" I responded. "I think I like that. Especially since I'm still alive to brag about it this time." I chuckled.
"Yeah, but you did fail to stay covert." She waggled a finger at me.
"Ah well, I'll have to try again next time." I nodded, climbing back to my feet and using the nearby lamp post for support as my legs were still a bit wobbly.
"You need to work out." Makoto laughed, clapping me on the back. I chuckled and nodded after almost falling over.
"Yeah, I get that a lot." I replied before fixing my glasses. "Though, I'm curious why it was you guys slept in."
"Slept in?" Usagi asked. "Yeah, like Mamoru would really let me sleep in. I wish." I stopped and looked up at them.
"Then, what kept you?" I asked, a confused expression on my face. Jackson had told me that they'd slept in, but they hadn't, they simply hadn't shown up until it was almost too late. It didn't make any sense, that kind of thing never happened in the anime.
"We got here as fast as we could, Alex." Minako said with a soft tone, it almost sounded sad.
"It just doesn't make sense..." I tried to wrap my mind around the situation, sure the enemies were different. But it was still the same world, wasn't it? The laws of physics that governed life on this world couldn't have changed just because of new enemies.
"Look, dude, I think you're putting too much thought into it." Makoto said stepping forward. "Our being late didn't make any difference, you were here, and you saved this day. Welcome to the ranks of the super heroes." She smiled and patted me on the back. My eyes widened all at once. The laws of physics didn't change when new enemies showed up in an anime, but they certainly could if a new hero showed up.
"So that's it..." I mumbled to myself, stepping forward, away from the group. "I need to go home, I have some thinking to do." My voice reflected the boiling conflict within me. I'd grown up idolizing these girls, who they were, what they did, and how they did it. Now, I was standing in a prime position to completely uproot that system.
"Should I...?" Rei started towards me.
"Thank you, Rei, I'm glad I could save you, but I think I need to be alone for a while." I said before limping off towards my house. It was a long walk, and under normal circumstances, I would collapse from hunger long before I made it, it was time to see exactly how much had changed since my arrival here.